Whispered Voices
by river of the sand
Summary: NejiSaku/SasuSaku. Being in Anbu taught her how to kill, how to resist torture and what to do if captured. But Sakura Haruno is not prepared for what awaits her when she is kidnapped by Sasuke Uchiha. Warning: contains rape & eventual CHAR DEATH. ON HIATUS.
1. Tracking The Enemy

I've reposted this chapter to change information, such as the pairings, so sorry for any confusion.

Author's Notes: Sasuke and Naruto are both missing-nin and Sakura is a tracking ninja with no strong memories of either Naruto or Sasuke. The pairings are NejiSaku and SasuSaku, but I won't tell you how it ends… Honestly, it could go either way.  
>Some of the canon characters have slightly different back grounds, such as there was no attack on Hinata by ninja from Kumogakure, so Hizashi Hyuuga is still alive. And Neji does not have the cage bird seal, due to amendments years ago. You'll discover more as the chapters go by.<p>

Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and the rest of the rookie 9 are 17 years old. And Neji, Tenten, and Lee are all 18 years.

WARNING: Dark Sasuke and twisted Naruto. Turn away now if you don't like it. Otherwise, read, love, and review! :)

Chapter One. Tracking The Enemy.

The masked ninja jumped down from their hiding place. The enemy was nowhere to be seen. They stopped for a moment, to regain their bearings and were off again. They were near Otogakure, the infamous and now abandoned sound village (if a collection of compounds could really be called a village), looking for hints to the whereabouts of Orochimaru and had caught a _whiff_ of another scent they recognised. It had been a long time since they'd smelt this one. No, there were two of them. Two scents they knew as rogue ninja who had abandoned their village in search of power… and _other_ things.

These three leaf trained ninja were a part of the special elite tracking unit and it was their job to hunt down rogue ninja. And they were _very_ good at it. They had a perfect kill or capture record, therefore their success rate was higher than any other tracking squads or solo hunter currently active in Konoha. And with that said, they were also amongst the youngest of the trackers still operating. The days of a good, clean, and efficient hunt were fast becoming infrequent in this changing world.

Rumours of a war on their doorstep had reached the Hokage, and resources were being diverted to bolster Konohagakure's defences. But the hunt went on, and tracking missing-nin might have started to become an unused skill, but some rogue ninja were worth going to the edge of the map to stop.

The three tracker ninja stopped again. There was a genjutsu in work nearby, but who was it for? They couldn't detect anything else out of the ordinary and silently communicated with each other through hand signals before darting away again. The genjutsu was avoided, and they passed it off as a trap designed to fool low level Shinobi and _normal_ people.

They picked up the scent again and continued to follow it, wary all the while for further traps, but none came. It started to feel like this path was never ending, but they kept with it, as there were no other avenues to explore. Finally, the scent died off and they knew this chase was at its end. They had missed them _again_! But the missing-nin they had caught a whiff of a few hours ago had gotten away.

"Damn!" The one called Takaru growled. "Not again!"

"Calm down," the red head said. He was referred to as Okanu. "We can pick up the trail again."

The third masked ninja was a woman. She scanned the area with her eyes for a moment, and then made up her mind. "I'll send my ninja hounds out. If there's even a remote trace of them, they'll find it."

Takaru nodded. "Do it."

She made the hand sign and several hounds appeared. She had a scrap of material from the ninja they had sensed and let the dogs sniff it, before ordering them to search for it. "They will not fail."

This jutsu was not known by many people in Konoha, and few were even aware of it, let alone could do it; she had learnt it from Kakashi Hatake. He had been her teacher for years after all.

They waited patiently and the sound of a ninja hound's howl told them the direction in which to go now. The last ninja to leave this small clearing was the Kunoichi. She disappeared using Shunshin in a flurry of pink, just like the colour of her hair.

X X X

Sasuke Uchiha held the red haired woman by the throat. He enjoyed watching her eyes bulge out of her sockets and hear her whimpering as she begged him to spare her. But the truth was that he had tired of this girl. He could fuck her every way that was possible, dump her unconscious for a while, leave and then come back and take her again, but the appeal of her body was losing its charm.

Killing her was starting to look far more _pleasurable_.

"Sasuke-kun," she managed to whisper. "P-please let me g-go. I'll d-do anything…"

"You really _should_ make up your mind what you're going to do with her, teme."

The voice belonged to Sasuke's best friend. He stood in the doorway to the cell this Karin girl had been forced to live in for the last few weeks, expressionless. He was normally a bundle of emotions, when not on the battlefield. His darkness came out when fighting ninja and he had no sympathy for any of them.

'_Just like me,' _Sasuke thought.

It was the reason they got along so well. Even when they argued, they were still friends.

"Hn." Sasuke squeezed harder until she lost consciousness and then dropped her on the floor. "Tell Orochimaru he has another body to experiment on."

"Nuh huh, _you_ tell him teme. That snake freaks me out."

Sasuke stared at Naruto Uzumaki. The blonde was sneering at him, not remotely happy. They were both seventeen, Naruto having had his birthday only a week ago. It had also been the anniversary of him leaving the leaf village behind him, barely four years ago. Sasuke had left a year and a half later. He had heard that Orochimaru wanted him to be his host, for some kind of weird jutsu.

Sasuke shivered._ Creepy_.

But Naruto wouldn't allow it, so they steered clear of the snake as much as possible. Still, the Sannin was occasionally useful, in the fact that he had a lot of spies out there that helped the best friends in their desire for revenge. The villagers of Konohagakure had to pay, for what they had done to _both_ of them.

"If you don't have the balls to kill her," Naruto said, coming into the cell now, "I'll do it for you."

The blood lust was normally Sasuke's area of expertise, but when it came to killing ninja, the blonde got very excited at the prospect of tearing them apart. It had to be the _demon_ inside of him. Sasuke had never understood why his friend didn't just head to Konoha and let the demon out on those wretched people.

"_Because_, teme," Naruto had said when he'd asked, much like a child would, "I want to be _me_."

That made no sense to the raven haired boy.

Naruto stepped further into the room and Sasuke moved toward the door. The blonde haired boy's eyes turned red and his features became more like the fox within. Sasuke's Sharingan made his eyes look red as well, but at least _his_ was natural. Sasuke did not turn away as Naruto throttled Karin awake just so she could watch the blood lust on his face as he dug his chakra claws into her body. The power of the Kyuubi sliced through her feeble, shuddering body.

Sasuke's favourite part was always the screaming. Naruto did not _feed_ like an animal would, but he certainly looked the part, hovering over her as she writhed in agony. The blood splatter was focused on the cell wall, but Naruto did not go unscathed by the mess made by the death of this woman. If Sasuke had never kidnapped her for his sexual pleasure, she would have ended up this way anyway. Naruto never let a prey escape him after all.

The blonde boy dropped the body once the last cry had escaped her lips and looked up at Sasuke. "That was too easy."

"Well, she was weakened from captivity," Sasuke reminded him and his friend smiled appreciatively.

Orochimaru slithered in, making Sasuke move away from the door in disgust. "I see you didn't think to spare her body for my research."

Naruto grunted, looking murderous. "Shut the fuck up, you can use the _parts_, freak."

The snake smiled, his voice laced with sarcasm. "Yes, that would be delightful. Thank you for the _suggestion_."

Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest. "What are you doing here?"

"I came to tell you that my spy has informed me that the forbidden scroll you were searching for is going to be leaving the leaf soon," Orochimaru said lazily, his tongue flicking out of his mouth as he spoke. "So if I were you, I'd head out now and intercept whatever squad they intend on sending to take it to its destination, before it's too late."

Naruto flipped the finger at him as he left the cell and Sasuke spoke softly to the Sannin as he too left, without pausing. "You will _never_ be me, Orochimaru."

X X X

The trail was dead. Sakura Haruno knew that when these ninja hounds couldn't find something, there was nothing _to_ find. It appeared their quarry was toying with them. Had they really been spotted? She looked around as Takaru and Okanu finally caught up with her. Even for a tracker ninja, she was incredibly quick on her feet.

"What's the verdict?" Takaru asked her. He believed he already knew the answer though.

"Their scent is gone," she said, confirming his suspicions. "It just dead ends."

"It would seem we've been played for fools," Okanu added listlessly.

"Not necessarily," she said. "If that were true, we have just walked into a trap."

"And there's no-one here," Takaru understood now. He had the Byakugan, and employed it now. It hadn't picked up anything during this entire wild goose chase, but there was no reason not to try again. "Nothing," he said, not surprised.

"Well," Okanu said annoyed, but too tired to complain too much. "There goes our record. Let's report back to the Hokage."

"Giving up already?" Sakura asked cheekily and he shrugged his shoulders.

"You said it yourself that this was a waste of time."

"When did I say that?"

"Before we even came on this hunt."

"I don't remember." She checked the position of the sun. "We should be heading back anyway. The Hokage-sama said if we couldn't find anything within a week to head back."

"But we did find something," Takaru countered. "We found the scent and we know now that Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha had been by this area less than two days ago."

"Well, they're long gone now," Sakura waved this information away, not particularly caring _who_ the missing-nin were, just that they were long gone.

They must have picked up the residual chakra from a pretty powerful jutsu for the scent of it to still be lingering in the air. Regardless of the end of this mission, she could at least say with pride that they had tracked something that no other squad would have even noticed.

So they started back toward Konoha, knowing full well that upon their return, they would probably just be sent back out again. Lady Tsunade was a slave driver, and had been increasing the productivity of their missions, due to these fucking _war_ rumours. It was ridiculous. In less than a day, they had returned to the main gates and Kotetsu, the dark haired guard that had a crush on the pink haired Kunoichi grinned at her arrival.

She waved at him, rolling her eyes behind her mask and followed her squad to the mission room to relay their progress to the Hokage. She was understandably concerned by their failure, but had something more important on her mind.

"Takura and Okanu, you will redeploy with the Anbu squad currently being briefed in room three. Go, now."

They were surprised, but bowed respectfully and left. Sakura stood still, waiting for her shishou to give her a new mission. The older woman just sighed and sat back in her chair.

"So you picked up an old trail left behind by Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha?"

Sakura nodded her head. "Yes milady."

"Any chance they were still in the area?"

"No milady. Even the Byakugan couldn't detect anything once the scent dead ended."

Tsunade sighed, leaning forward on her hands. "That is unfortunate, but it can't be helped right now. I have a new mission for you. You won't be needing your tracker mask for this one."

"What's the mission, Lady Hokage?" Sakura asked, removing her mask as instructed.

The legendary Sannin smiled slightly. "You are to gather two squads together and take a forbidden scroll out of the land of fire and give it to an old friend, for safe keeping."

X X X

Naruto was excited. He had been itching to leave the hideout and go for a kill for _hours_ now. He really _needed_ this. Every time they took on ninja, he saw it as a chance to take his revenge. Even the most insignificant kill was one step closer to invading and destroying those who had ridiculed and tormented him during his formative years. His only concern was revenge. Well, he supposed he also wanted teme to come out of it unscathed as well.

'_And fuck,' _he thought ravenously, _'and once this wild goose chase is over, maybe I'll find myself a tavern and some big tit woman with a sweet smile.'_

He was weird that way, he would admit. Unlike Sasuke, Naruto had long tired of taking to bed with woman who screamed "rape" every few seconds. It was incredibly distracting. He preferred them _willing_ and _open_. This was why Sasuke didn't want Karin anymore – he no longer needed to force himself on her. Naruto supposed his friend's preference for this type of sex was a result of some twisted event in his childhood he had yet to share with him.

Naruto had told the fucking chicken ass _everything_ the villagers had done to him, so it was only natural to expect the same trust in return, right? He made a distinctly unimpressed sound when Sasuke pointed out that they had to pick up the pace. The scroll was probably still in the village, so why hurry?

They travelled for half a day before Sasuke brought them to a halt. He had activated his Sharingan and knew that there were ninja nearby. It wasn't the same thing as using the Byakugan, but it still did the trick. Naruto had proven himself adept at tracking, channelling chakra into his nostrils or simply homing into the fox's natural abilities, but he was currently doing neither, seemingly not thinking they were going to encounter these ninja before sighting the village.

Well, he was wrong.

"Why do you look so fucking happy?" Naruto asked, suspicious.

"They're coming this way," Sasuke said, grinning from ear to ear, causing his friend to also smile. "I can't see them properly from this distance, but there's an enormous amount of chakra between them."

His genjutsu protected them as the group passed them by. There were nine of them, only one Kunoichi to eight Shinobi. Despite his indifference toward the opposite sex, even during sex, Sasuke did occasionally found himself bothered by the fact that male ninja outnumbered the female populous. Perhaps because there was then less for him to take as a result. He refused to fuck a _civilian_ anyway. He hadn't even told Naruto why.

"Eight Shinobi one girl ninja," Naruto said, as the friends sped off again, following these leaf ninja.

"They're called Kunoichi," Sasuke said, both irritated and bored by his friend's thick skull.

"Whatever, teme," Naruto rolled his eyes. He was _itching_ to get to the nearest town and let off some steam. "Let's just grab their scroll and kill the lot of them, alright? I need a fuck so bad."

X X X

A/N: This story is stronger in my head than it was when I first posted it and I now know almost EVERYTHING that's going to happen. It's NejiSaku with SasuSaku and will have lemons as well as aggressive lemons.  
>Please love and review. It really does inspire me to write faster. ^_^<p> 


	2. Captured

Author's Notes: Sasuke and Naruto are both missing-nin and Sakura is a tracking ninja with no strong memories of either Naruto or Sasuke. The pairings are NejiSaku and SasuSaku, but I won't tell you how it ends… Honestly, it could go either way.  
>Some of the canon characters have slightly different back grounds, such as there was no attack on Hinata by ninja from Kumogakure, so Hizashi Hyuuga is still alive. And Neji does not have the cage bird seal, due to amendments years ago. You'll discover more as the chapters go by.<p>

Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and the rest of the rookie 9 are 17 years old. And Neji, Tenten, and Lee are all 18 years.

Read, love, and review! :)

Chapter Two. Captured.

Sakura Haruno left her tracker mask back in Konoha and joined the two normal squads heading out of the leaf. She was the one carrying the forbidden scroll, on the Hokage-sama's orders. Lady Tsunade had specifically told her to head out of the land of fire and south, toward the land of tea. Boss Jirojo **[*]** , an old friend of Lady Tsunade's was taking a trip, and Sakura and the two squads along for the ride intended on accompanying the gambling shark to the land of waves. Wave Country was closer than Degarashi Port, but the Hokage had wanted them to take an unpredictable path, since she was mildly certain that Konoha was host to a spy working for Orochimaru.

She couldn't be sure if it was true, let alone _who_ the spy was, so that was why she had asked Sakura to oversee this mission personally. The pinkette pushed harder, heading south, south-east, glancing off in the distance toward Wave Country, half wishing she could just head over that way right now. She had a bad feeling about this route. Something about Tsunade suspecting they had a spy made her wary of any path she might take which she knew was because of her naturally suspicious nature. Sakura had spent the majority of her life being let down by people she didn't know, and only trusted the ninja of her village, not the civilians. The civilian council were narrow-minded and cruel, the civilian populous were ignorant and didn't appreciate what the ninja of the village did on a day to day basis to keep them safe.

This was her opinion.

She lifted her nose suddenly, her tracker instincts kicking in. There was no detectable chakra nearby but something was definitely _off_.

"Stop!" She ordered the squads and they obeyed without hesitation.

"What is it?"

His name was Utama Fue, a new Jounin. He was normally on another tracking squad as well, but the Hokage had made teams cut down on numbers lately, to cope with the increase in both A and S Ranked missions, as well as the decrease in tracking missions.

As the ninja squads stopped, realising they were about to be ambushed, Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha darted forward. Their targets consisted of eight Shinobi and one Kunoichi. Naruto's eyes glazed over and he no longer saw them as ninja, or even as human. They were just targets – targets that deserved to die.

The group had walked straight into their trap, considering there was a genjutsu directly ahead of them that made them think they were heading south-east, instead they had been going north-east for almost an hour. Sakura Haruno realised too late what was going on, but at least had sensed that something was wrong in time to stop the squads and form a defensive posture. She could only now smell the scent of foreign chakra in the vicinity. But when she realised there were only two attackers, she seriously thought they were insane.

Why would two people attack nine?

Then she sniffed the air again, using the skill Kakashi had taught her when she learnt to summon the ninja hounds and realised who these rogue ninja were.

'_Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki.'_

Lady Tsunade had warned her they were both very powerful, what with Sasuke's Sharingan and Naruto being the host to the nine tailed fox. Sakura was not sure even these leaf ninja would be enough to fend them off. The pinkette was a Jounin, but never let her guard down, even around Chunin or Genin level ninja. The two squads with her set up their formations and Sakura found herself the centre of their defensive positions. The enemy seemed to catch onto this, the raven haired boy flashing his red eyes at her and she realised _he_ must be the Uchiha. Sakura had the forbidden scroll strapped to her and the scroll was their mission.

She held her kunai out in front of herself and ducked a blow by the Uchiha as Naruto took on the rest of the squads on his own. She glanced at the blonde, noting that his eyes were also red, his features becoming more fox-like, and wondered if he had control of the demon within. Or perhaps he _was_ the demon. His chakra was red, and flew out in all directions as Sakura crouched, pivoted on one foot, and kicked out at the Uchiha. Stunned by her attack, he slammed into Utama and promptly thrust his kunai into the Jounin's shoulder to break his own fall.

Sakura winced inwardly. That wound was not fatal, and had not hit anything vital, but she felt a strong _urge_ that told her to heal it quickly. As a medical ninja, she knew better than most how to avoid attack and disappear from an enemy's line of sight.

Sasuke lost sight of that pink hair as he turned to attack the Kunoichi. She had the forbidden scroll on her back. Frustrated, he avoided the blow of another Shinobi as the one he had just hit dropped to the ground and rolled out of the way. Naruto was having fun, his killer instincts kicking in, but the speed of these elite level leaf ninja was preventing him from landing the killing blow. They had certainly pulled out all the stops to protect this forbidden scroll.

'_No matter,' _Sasuke thought, still searching for the pinkette in the mass of moving bodies. _'I will have it soon enough.'_

"Get the scroll out of here!"

One of the Shinobi called out and Sasuke spun around to see the Kunoichi healing the one he had injured. She looked up at the raven haired boy and for a moment, their eyes locked. She was very calm, this medical ninja, and Sasuke felt himself pausing to just _stare_ at her.

"Get with it teme!"

The sound of Naruto's irritated voice snapped him out of it and Sasuke made for the Kunoichi, who was even now moving to leave the clearing. This forbidden scroll was their mission, and protecting it was their top priority. It _had_ to be the one he was looking for!

Sakura was surprised at the speed of the Uchiha as he slammed into her. Her shoulder twisted under the assault, but there was nothing broken. She threw up her hand holding the kunai and channelled her chakra into this hand. The blade sliced flesh, but other than wincing, the boy just grabbed her roughly, slamming her into a tree as he stared into her eyes. This time, the Sharingan looked into her eyes and she suddenly went still.

Was this what the Hokage-sama was worried about?

Everything disappeared, inside her mind and the outside world. Suddenly Sakura was lost is a sea of black, red and white and heard only whispered voices when her fellow leaf ninja called out to her. This was how she knew she was about to die.

Sasuke made the pink haired Kunoichi fall asleep and turned around to help Naruto. The enemy numbers forced him to use his Sharingan and Naruto looked furious when his friend chose to merely knock them out.

"No," Sasuke put his hand out to stop Naruto as the blonde moved in for the kill.

Naruto growled, his eyes still red. "What the _fuck_?"

"It's my turn."

The blonde made a rude sound. "What the fuck ever, teme. I'll take the scroll then."

Sasuke looked up at him. He had been staring at the pink Kunoichi, almost mesmerised, and frowned at Naruto.

"Where do you think you're taking that?"

"To the shrine of course. I'm not stealing it from you, teme. I know how much this means to you." He winked at him, fresh blood now on his lips, as he'd just bitten into his bottom lip with his Kyuubi fangs. "Believe it."

"Stop saying that."

Naruto unhooked the scroll from the sleeping Kunoichi and swung it onto his back. He grinned at his friend and repeated his last words several times, in a childish way before leaving the clearing, heading for the land of waves. They knew someone who could decipher this scroll who lived there. Orochimaru could've done it, but neither of them trusted him with something this important. Sasuke _desperately_ needed to know what was on the scroll.

He sighed, and moved in and around the eight Shinobi, slicing their throats, skewering them, whatever took his fancy. But he hesitated with the Kunoichi, his bloodied katana on her exposed neck, staring down at that unflustered expression on her face. She was just lying there, unconscious because of his Sharingan, and _helpless_. He couldn't help himself – he knelt down to touch her hair, this pink haired abomination. Sasuke Uchiha did not like her. He did not find her remotely attractive. But somehow, he couldn't help but want to tear away her clothes and fuck her, hard and fast.

It was the perfect opportunity to replace Karin.

X X X

Sakura woke, groggily not registering at first that she was no longer in the forest. For a moment, she'd forgotten the attack on her squad and the very powerful jutsu that had knocked them all unconscious. She moaned, rubbed the back of her head softly, and then winced. The pain brought back her memory and she tried to move, suddenly aware of her surroundings.

A weakness in her limbs kept her from doing anything except sit up faintly. She was in a concrete cell, one that was dry at least, but bare of anything except a grey prison bed, a steal door with no handle on this side, and an iron barred window five feet above the bed. She could barely see half a foot in front of her face as she stood and looked around more closely at her surroundings. Her throat was dry, her body _aching_ and she had no idea how long she had been unconscious for. Several hours it _felt_ like.

She checked her hands when she realised she was bleeding, but could not summon the chakra to heal them.

'_Great, my chakra is blocked.'_

It meant they had a medical ninja with them. Sakura groaned, throwing her arms up in frustration. What the _hell_ was going on? She leant against the wall, thinking about the fight she had lost to get herself in this predicament. Sasuke had been distracted, attacking Utama so she'd taken the opportunity to get out of his line of sight. Not until she'd realised the fight was going badly did she use her reverse summoning scroll to alert her normal tracking squad. Takaru and Okanu were on a mission currently, but when they were done, they would notice their own scrolls were emitting chakra.

It was an invention of Shikamaru Nara's, to let team members know that something had gone wrong, so that a few days of not knowing their separated team mate was in trouble was drastically reduced to say, a few hours. She only hoped they would be able to track her, once the time came. Their group had previously tracked Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki, leading to a dead end and this could potentially happen again.

Regaining some strength, Sakura stood up, walked over to her prison door, and banged on it loudly.

"Hey, let me out! Is anyone out there?"

There was no answer. She tried for several more minutes before giving up… for now. Someone would have to come eventually, unless the intention was to let her die of starvation, or something. She lay back down on the bed and rested her eyes. She needed to be at full strength when they finally came for her.

X X X

It had been several days since her incarceration, but still Sakura didn't even know what she was doing here. They fed her, allowed her to use the bathroom, and this morning had led her blindfolded to a bathroom with an actual _shower_ in it. It had been such sweet relief, to actually be able to _bathe_, even though she was then forced to wear the clothes they had provided for her – a pink top and short, black shorts, with white underwear.

But the rogue ninja she had recognised by their scent had not reappeared since she woke three days ago. She knew that the man and woman who were taking turns in feeding her were only lackeys. Important people didn't babysit captives. She had demanded over and over to know what had happened to the rest of her squad, but her voice had fallen on deaf and ignorant ears. There was a chance they too were imprisoned, and if she could just find out where they _were_, somehow they would find a way to escape together.

Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. They didn't know yet that she had recognised them. Of course, they'd been at the academy together, but so much had happened for Konoha since then, and she and _most_ others could only remember their names, not what they looked like. The blonde was definitely Naruto, the raven haired boy… Sasuke. Her musings had been proven correct once he flashed his Sharingan in battle. She had to admit though, that he was very attractive. Both boys were.

Naruto had seemed like a crazed lunatic, until he'd called out to his companion and sounded more human than animal, while Sasuke was placid, even when he was annoyed that she'd moved away without him noticing her. Neither of them had shown her or her squad any mercy from the moment they dropped that genjutsu to the instant her eyes closed to the world around her. They had clearly enjoyed the fight, both looking hungry for violence, but it was the Uchiha who had seemed the most level headed.

Where were they? And more importantly, what were they planning with that forbidden scroll?

An hour after being given access to a bathroom, Sakura jumped to her feet as the door to her cell opened. It was Sasuke Uchiha. He was looking at her differently now, closing the door behind himself and she swallowed heavily, suddenly terrified. Sasuke did not move from the door however, his face more placid, his eyes slightly wider as they surveyed her body appreciatively.

Sakura trembled involuntarily.

'_Kami, what is he going to do to me?'_

X X X

Takaru and Okanu were in the Hokage's office, shortly after their mission with the Anbu was over, only to find out that their team leader, Sakura Haruno, was not where she was supposed to be. They'd received the signal on the reverse summons scroll they each carried, and were understandably concerned.

Every tracking nin squad had their own way of tracking each other and often used reversed summons to quickly catch up to each other, but this recent invention by that Nara Jounin had increased the level of successful rescue missions. The summons scroll was to be activated in the event an enemy captured or killed a team mate, either sending the said team mate back to their squad or simply alerting them to their predicament. When they finished their mission, Takaru and Okanu were surprised to find their scrolls merely emitting chakra. This meant that she was either dead, or was somehow prevented from fully activating the reverse summons.

They _needed_ to know, either way.

So the Hokage gave them permission to take two black ops squads with them as they tracked Sakura Haruno. They decided to make Kakashi Hatake's Anbu squad one of them, as he was the only other person who could summon the ninja hounds that Sakura occasionally called to help. Pakkun would be invaluable in finding her as well. The silver haired Shinobi dragged his squad and another that he was familiar with, to the village exit, where Takaru and Okanu were already waiting.

"Well if it isn't the terrible two," Kakashi said half jokingly.

"Your failed attempt at humour I take it," Takaru said seriously.

He was the quickest of his squad to vent his frustration, while still retaining that trademark level headedness that came with being a Hyuuga. Okanu on the other hand, was level headed by his own design. He was logical, straight faced, and was the only member of the Inuzuka clan that wasn't always looking for an argument. Both boys were two years younger than their squad leader, Sakura, making them fifteen years old (well, actually Takaru was still fourteen, but his birthday wasn't far away). Normally, squads consisted of four ninja, but the village had been stretching its resources beyond its limits for several years now and anyway, they operated better this way, just them and Sakura.

"Oh no," Kakashi said seriously. "It was a compliment."

He didn't elaborate, but they knew what he meant. Even for clan members, they were both very strong for their age. This was why Sakura had chosen them in the first place.

"Shall we go then?" Okanu asked.

Kakashi shook his head. "I already sent Pakkun and the others ahead. We should be hearing from them momentarily."

So they waited. It didn't take long for a howling to be heard in the distance. They had picked up her scent.

"Follow me," Kakashi said, and then led the way out to Pakkun's position.

X X X

A/N: No, I won't be focusing on OC's, no matter how much I love Takaru and Okanu. But these moments are important for the Sakura being kidnapped by Sasuke and Naruto arc of this story.  
>Please love and review. It really does inspire me to write faster. ^_^<p>

_**[*]**__ Boss Jirojo _ – I'm not sure how to spell his name.


	3. Obsession

Author's Notes: Sasuke and Naruto are both missing-nin and Sakura is a tracking ninja with no strong memories of either Naruto or Sasuke. The pairings are NejiSaku and SasuSaku, but I won't tell you how it ends… Honestly, it could go either way.  
>Some of the canon characters have slightly different back grounds, such as there was no attack on Hinata by ninja from Kumogakure, so Hizashi Hyuuga is still alive. And Neji does not have the cage bird seal, due to amendments years ago. You'll discover more as the chapters go by.<p>

Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and the rest of the rookie 9 are 17 years old. And Neji, Tenten, and Lee are all 18 years.

WARNING: Aggressive lemon!  
>And yes, Neji is here… finally! Read, love, and review! :)<p>

Chapter Three. Obsession.

Neji Hyuuga stood opposite his cousin, Hinata Hyuuga, watching as she moved into a battle ready stance. She was getting ready to use her jyuuken strike, her body perfectly positioned and completely still. She had inhaled a moment before and was now holding her breath, waiting. But Neji was patient, and watched her carefully. It was only a few minutes before Hinata let the breath out, earning a rare smile from her cousin, and attacked him.

Neji parried her blows, not attempting to block or strike back. She had been learning the Gentle Step Heavenly Dragon Fist, and learning quickly. But right now, she wanted to land a hit on her cousin to get him back for their last training session when his Gentle Fist had made her unable to use her chakra for over eight hours. She was getting stronger every time they trained together, moving faster than she had for a long time and Neji was proud of her. She was closer to his level than she realised, but he wanted her to figure this out on her own. It would also do wonders for her self-esteem.

He dodged again and she became more incensed, her brows creasing and her eyes narrowing at him. Neji sighed, and moved his hand forward to initiate his Gentle Fist, surprised when she brushed him off, hitting his arm with her elongated fingers. He pulled back and this time blocked her attack, and then went immediately on the offensive. She had successfully cut off the first chakra point. Not wishing to be the one on the ground this time, Neji took a step backward from Hinata's persistent attacks and activated his Eight Trigrams Palms Heavenly Spin.

"Rotation!"

"Waah!"

Hinata fell backward, losing her balance. He'd hit her with enough force to knock her to the ground, but without seriously hurting her. He hadn't expected to have to resort to this, but whatever. These training sessions were for her benefit, so she needed to be prepared for anything. Still, there was the little issue of…

"You cheated!" She said, annoyed, quickly climbing to her feet.

Right, he had said they were just going to use hand to hand combat. That meant no chakra usage other than Gentle Fist. Neji chuckled softly, regretting his actions, but keeping his face as remorseful yet aloof as he could as he apologised.

"Sorry Hinata-hime, I guess I got carried away."

"Because I managed to hit _you_ this time," she said, having lost her anger.

That was Hinata for you. She rarely got angry, and the feeling dissipated quickly. She really was the sweetest person he knew. Most people considered her too sweet for her own good, but she was far from it. Neji had been training with her for awhile now, and could see the fiery passion and stubbornness in her. It just needed a trigger. He smiled minutely, then dropped the affection from his face and nodded his head.

"Something like that."

Hinata smiled. "Okay, next time I'll get _you_."

She moved away from him.

"You don't want to go again?"

"No. I promised Kurenai Sensei that I would help her in the garden this afternoon. With Asuma Sensei out on a mission with his squad, she needs the help."

Neji nodded again. Kurenai Yuhi-Sarutobi was heavily pregnant to the son of the third Hokage. Their marriage was the stuff of fairytales to the women in town. How much they were in love, how much they got along, and how much other people envied their blissful union. It was all so oddly… _perfect_. They were actually on their second child. Neji understood why their kind of relationship was so coveted, even if he wasn't some fan girl with her eyes clouded with love hearts.

He had someone he thought about that way as well.

"Neji, Hinata," Rock Lee bounded into the Hyuuga training ground, landing lithely a foot away with Tenten close behind. "It is good that you are both here. We have some urgent news for you."

Neji looked to Tenten as Lee pouted at his indifferent expression and didn't elaborate. Tenten stepped closer to Lee, but kept her eyes on Neji.

"They're saying Sakura Haruno was on a mission and her squad was killed," she said softly, trying to say this as gently as she could.

She knew Neji liked Sakura, and that they had been together. Tenten had had a crush on Neji since forever, but was very concerned for the pinkette's welfare as well. Sure, she wanted Sakura out of the way, but not _this_ way.

Neji froze, his face darkening and Hinata stared sympathetically at him. She knew of his feelings as well. Even Lee understood that this was difficult for the older Hyuuga. He liked Sakura the same way Tenten liked Neji, but was more open about it.

"Neji-niisan?" Hinata said, in that soft, shy voice of hers.

He glanced at her and then addressed Tenten. "Tell me everything you heard."

X X X

Sasuke Uchiha was looking at her strangely now, his face more placid, and his eyes slightly wider as they surveyed her appreciatively.

Sakura Haruno trembled involuntarily.

'_Kami, what is he going to do to me?'_

Her chakra had been sealed away, and just being in this cell was making her feel more and more weak.

He grabbed her roughly, shoving her up against the wall. She pushed at him, the effort itself draining. Then she realised that on top of them having cut off her chakra network, that the food had been drugged. She groaned. If she wasn't so _stupid_, she would've noticed! Angry at herself, she tried again to push him away. Her hands found his shirt and gripped tightly as he laughed at her softly.

"It doesn't matter how much you fight me," Sasuke stated, his stoic voice not reflecting the lust in his eyes.

Sakura moaned, shivering as she realised the full of his intent. "Please… _don't_."

He grunted. If only she knew that her meek protests were turning him on. He liked it when they _didn't_ want it. He was twisted that way, he knew. But it didn't matter. He held her hands above her head and she lowered her eyes from his face; she went suddenly still, her body limp. Sasuke wasn't entirely happy about this, and lifted her head by pushing upward on her throat. She coughed and gasped at the push, her head hitting the wall behind her, _hard_. Sakura shifted her body again, earning a satisfied smirk from her captor. He slammed her head against the wall again and blotches of pain obscured her vision as she cried out.

Sasuke ripped her away from the wall and threw her down, onto the grey prison bed. She sat up straight away and scuttled backwards, against the wall, in a vain attempt to put some distance between them. She wasn't scared of pain, of helplessness or of either physical or mental torture. She had learnt the hard way that these things and many more were eventually expected in the life of a ninja, increasing exponentially upon capture. No, what scared her was not what Sasuke was about to do to her. What really terrified her was the part of her brain that didn't care that she was about to be raped.

She had prepared herself in every way possible for the kind of sick things enemy ninja might do to her, including sexual assault, but was not as worried about it as she thought she would be.

'_Ninja with no fears should be afraid of themselves,' _she thought.

Sasuke grabbed her hitai-ate, quickly using the headband to tie her arms to the metal frame of the bed. She was stuck, and lashed out with her feet; he avoided the blows, an arrogant smirk on his face. He caught her feet when she refused to stop and stared menacingly down at her.

"If you kick me, I will make this worse for you. You are _mine_, Kunoichi."

Sakura couldn't move as he activated his Sharingan. He told her to stop trying to kick him, but left her the opportunity to wriggle and protest. She realised that he liked it when his victims complained, and not _attacked_ him. He lifted her shirt to expose her breasts to the chill of the air. His hands slid down to her black shorts, undid the bindings unceremoniously and in one swift motion, yanked the shorts down and off of her, along with her underwear.

Sasuke cupped her breasts, shifting his weight so that he was now between her bare legs. Her breasts were slightly smaller than he was used to, but he liked them all the same. The pinkette who had still refused to give her name (although he knew he'd met her before) trembled at his touch, her eyes full of the anger he saw in the mirror every morning.

'_Good. You go ahead and hate me.'_

He ignored every moan and groan of both pleasure and annoyance she was making, though it certainly was making him _harder_. Once he was done with her breasts, he explored her folds and the force of his violent assault made her cry out. He shifted above her and reached down to undo the binding on his dark pants. Sakura took in a deep breath, unable to stop him, helpless; she couldn't stop the single tear.

This was a different kind of pain. As he pierced her core, she screamed louder, throwing her head back. He didn't care that this was hurting her, but waited for the part of her brain that registered the sensations in her body to take control before he started moving. She didn't want this; she refused to embrace the shudders of pleasure as her body betrayed her. She closed her eyes and bit her lip, trying not to show him how much her body was responding to the feel of him inside of her.

He continued his assault for his own pleasure, caring only about that last thrust that would send him over the edge. This was why she was here, for _his_ pleasure, not as some hostage or for interrogation. It was _humiliating_. His left arm hooked under her body and her eyes snapped open as he started to kiss her throat, his right hand now running through her short pink hair. What the _hell_?

The bed creaked in protest under his pounding hammering beating and she pulled on the hitai-ate holding her to the frame on the bed to see if she could pull it loose. It didn't budge. It was too tight. He groaned, picking up the pace again, and few minutes passed before he came and she shivered, despite the warm sensation gathering in the pit of her stomach.

Sakura panted, closing her eyes when he pulled away, not wanting to see the smug look on his face. He wasn't leaving though, firmly inside her and _very_ still. Perhaps he was staring at her and she turned her head to the side.

"Open your eyes," he commanded.

She ignored him. A few seconds passed, he ordered her to open her eyes again and again, she refused. He grunted.

"Fine, stay this way then."

Sasuke pulled away from her, she grunted softly at the jerk, and he left the room, closing the cell door behind him. Sakura opened her eyes. She was still tied up and this time she didn't hold back the tears. They were coming on their own now anyway. She could never have stopped them. She'd never been raped before, and was glad for the small mercy that at least she hadn't been a virgin. She had Neji Hyuuga to thank for that. But this time had still hurt, even if she wasn't bleeding or anything like that. She pushed her legs together, realising she was wet down there; but it hadn't been enough to stop the abrasion against her inner walls.

Sakura groaned, looking up and at the window above her head that she couldn't see out of from here. She missed Neji's gentle words, the way he had made sure she was okay before penetrating her. She hadn't slept with him since then, and they'd spoken a few times, but whenever she had thought that maybe he liked her the same way, his features would go stoic and he mumbled something about needing to train. It had been a few days since her incarceration, and she wondered if he was still on his most recent mission. If so, then he wouldn't have heard about her disappearance yet.

She wanted to get back to the leaf and back to her friends. But first of all, she needed to get untied and dressed. She sighed and tugged on her headband, feeling it slacken. In all the "antics" from being pulled during… well, the movement of the bed, the hitai-ate had started to loosen. Sakura pulled on it some more, wrapping her fingers around the material in an attempt to unravel the knot on it. She twisted her body around to get a better angle on it and it mercifully slid off the metal of the bed head a moment later.

She winced as she redressed herself.

'_I need to get out of here.'_

X X X

Sasuke left the cell satisfied. He was so pleased with himself that he almost forgot what he had promised Naruto. The blonde knucklehead met him at the entrance to their hideout as the Uchiha decided to go for a walk.

"Sasuke!" Naruto Uzumaki cooed. "We're still in fire country and the scroll needs to be deciphered ya baka!"

They called this hideout the shrine because Orochimaru didn't know about it. It was just inside the fire border to the land of waves, and hidden within an ocean-side rock face. Port City wasn't far from here.

"I know," Sasuke said evenly. "We can go now if you want."

Naruto scoffed at him, pulling a face that made his best friend chuckle. "Nah, we can wait 'till the morning."

He studied his stoic expression. "You fucked her, didn't you?"

Sasuke nodded.

"Way to go teme." Naruto snickered. "Finally, a leaf rat that's worth more than just the usual _kill_. I get to dispose of the body when you're done."

Sasuke sighed and didn't answer him.

Naruto raised his eyebrows at him. "What's up your fuck hole?"

"Nothing."

"Well anyway, you need to be careful about fucking a leaf rat. They'll know she's still alive and won't rest until they find her. It's probably best if you bore of this one quickly teme. We don't need the tracker nin after us again."

"Hn."

"I still can't believe you decided on a _leaf_ Kunoichi. No accounting for taste I suppose; just as you keep your eye on the prize," the blonde said, talking about the forbidden scroll. "Come on, the sun will be setting soon. How about we train along the country border for a while?"

Sasuke nodded. He could use it. He had just had sex, but still had plenty of energy to burn. He kept thinking about the pinkette as he followed Naruto. He wanted to go back in there right now and take her again, which surprised him. When he had been sleeping with Karin, he went into the cell maybe twice a week. But even before the Kusagakure missing-nin, the rest of those Kunoichi had been no different than her. Yet this pink haired leaf ninja left him wanting more. He stared at Naruto's back. His friend wanted to kill her and had probably already decided how he was going to do it.

But Sasuke couldn't help it. He didn't want the Kunoichi dead. He just wanted to hold her, fuck her, and never let go.

X X X

A/N: And so Sasuke's obsession begins. But how will this end? You'll find out… eventually! ^_^


	4. The Familiar Scent

Author's Notes: Sasuke and Naruto are both missing-nin and Sakura is a tracking ninja with no strong memories of either Naruto or Sasuke. The pairings are NejiSaku and SasuSaku, but I won't tell you how it ends… Honestly, it could go either way.  
>Some of the canon characters have slightly different back grounds, such as there was no attack on Hinata by ninja from Kumogakure, so Hizashi Hyuuga is still alive. And Neji does not have the cage bird seal, due to amendments years ago. You'll discover more as the chapters go by.<br>Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and the rest of the rookie 9 are 17 years old. And Neji, Tenten, and Lee are all 18 years.

Read, love, and review! :)

Chapter Four. The Familiar Scent.

The sun had set and Konohagakure was bathed in darkness. Here and there, small sources of light aided the moon in keeping the streets illuminated enough to at least navigate through. The village was far from asleep however, as ninja were still patrolling the streets – unseen and unheard – and the popular bars in town had been opened for business as the sun finally set. Ever since Tsunade Senju became Hokage, there had been a steady stream of her influence throughout the village, with shop owners importing more alcohol and starting small taverns and pubs in an attempt to bring the past time of getting shit smashed out of the darkness and into the light.

The third Hokage had been a great man, a fair and ethical Hokage, and a devoted family man. But he had never out rightly sanctioned these places, so their business had always been conducted out of sight, even if the occasional drunken repercussion was apparent. A lot of shop owners offered sake and the like to their adult customers, but the presence of intoxicants had never truly been felt like this before.

Genma Shiranui was not normally the drinking type, even for a ninja, but he wandered into the _Blue Lotus_ anyway. It was a new and classier version of these disreputable _pubs_. Well, at least he thought it was. It sold alcohol freely, but also had a restaurant feel to it, with meals here rivalling the ones favoured in barbeque places popular all over Konoha. So this was where he had chosen to meet colleagues, drink, and enjoy the night.

Aoba Yamashiro, Raido Namiashi, and Iwashi Tatami were already waiting for him, but had yet to order.

"How considerate of you," Genma said, the senbon in his mouth moving with every syllable as he sat down next to Aoba in the booth.

They ordered and started talking about their day. This was their routine, once a week to catch up. Not every mission allowed this of course, and they were rarely all here. Genma would've liked to have invited those irrepressible best friends, Kotetsu Hagane and Izumo Kamizuki as well. Those two knew how to liven things up, but they were on guard duty tonight. Lady Tsunade seemed to like assigning them this position a lot, when they weren't carting things all over the place for her or running back and forth between one position inside the village and another.

They were overworked, even for aides. It was getting so bad that some people had even started to nickname the "go to boys".

"Have you heard about Sakura Haruno?" Aoba said. He was a gossiper and had problems keeping his mouth shut.

"I don't think you're supposed to talk about that," Raido said soothingly, staring over toward the bar.

"But everyone already knows," Aoba countered.

"Then there's no need to talk about it, is there?"

"What's the big problem?"

Raido tore his eyes away from whatever had caught his attention at the bar and narrowed his eyes at Aoba.

"She's the Gondaime's prized apprentice, so show a little respect. Stop gossiping for once in your life," he said sternly.

They bickered and Iwashi chuckled as Genma glanced over to the bar, to see what Raido had been looking at. It was Neji Hyuuga. He was surprised to see the prodigy in a place like this, even one as nicely done up as the _Blue Lotus_. He wondered what had him so depressed.

Aoba and Raido bit their tongues as their food arrived and concerned, Genma occasionally glanced at Neji in the corner of his eye. He had only spoken to the Hyuuga genius on one other occasion and that had been because of an official mission. But right now, Neji was alone, his head down and absentmindedly swishing his beverage without drinking it. It sent shivers down Genma's spine. Everyone knew that Neji was an ice cube who never let his feelings show and was more likely to be bored of a conversation instead of instigating one.

Genma watched him for a minute more and then excused himself from his friends to go to the bar. He approached Neji, not receiving a response when he said "hello". He sat on the stool next to the Hyuuga and cleared this throat.

"Are you alright Neji?"

Neji looked up, startled, but quickly hid this emotion. He had been lost in thoughts. Unable to sleep, and worried about Sakura, he'd decided to take Lee's advice and "unwind". But sitting here and staring into his drink was getting him nowhere. His squad had to report to Tsunade for a mission in the morning, and he found himself not wanting to go; after all, what if Kakashi and the others returned with Sakura? He wanted to be here when they did.

Neji nodded his head minutely. "I am fine."

He kept his face impassive of course, not looking to get into a conversation with Genma on why he was so depressed. He had heard the details on what had happened to Sakura's group, and that she had not been found. The "package" she had with her, as the general term went, was also missing. A lesser informed person would suspect that she had just taken it and run off, but no-one was suggesting this.

Neji knew full well that the chances of Sakura still being alive were low, but Tenten had made a point of addressing her absence as hope that she had merely been captured. The brunette Kunoichi had said this to calm him, but she clearly meant it. He was grateful to her, glad that he had been surrounded by friends when she'd told him. They knew of his feelings, even though he had never expressed them outwardly to any of them. But the one person he _wanted_ to tell was missing now and it pained him that he might never get the chance.

Genma did not look convinced and Neji wondered if he really _was_ this see-through. He had hidden his feelings for Sakura for years, never showing her how he felt, nor saying or doing anything about it. Then they'd found themselves on a mission alone together and the sexual tension had created a very uncomfortable quiet between them. It was only when they returned to Konoha and she had casually asked him to help her carry the last of her belongings from her parents' house to her new apartment that something finally happened between them.

Neji missed the feel of her bed sheets as she wrapped her legs around him, raising her voice under his ministrations. Before they had slept together, Sakura had gotten into a lot of potentially fatal situations where a lesser Kunoichi would surely have died, but not until that night in her apartment had he ever truly worried if she would come back or be found lying somewhere…

He closed his eyes, not finishing that sentence in his head.

"You're welcomed to join us," Genma said, indicating to the booth his friends were in, chattering happily.

Neji's eyes snapped open at these words, and the older Shinobi knew he would say "no", but had to ask. He was not one to leave someone brooding on their own if he could help it. Neji just shook his head and stood up.

"I must rest up before my mission tomorrow. Good night Genma."

Neji walked home slowly, still thinking about Sakura. There was nothing he could do but wait and hope for the best. But more than anything, he wanted to be on the squad out there right now, looking for her. He _needed_ to find Sakura Haruno, alive and well.

X X X

Kakashi Hatake was leading two squads of Anbu as well as the tracker ninja called Takaru Hyuuga and Okanu Inuzuka into the night, following a _very_ faint scent of Sakura Haruno that Pakkun had detected. Normally, they would rest for awhile before continuing the search, but Pakkun had been concerned, stating that the scent was so faint, that by morning it might become impossible to follow.

Very few things could do this to the nose of a ninja hound, water being one of them, but Pakkun had assured Kakashi this was not the case. It would seem that whoever took the tracking Kunoichi was doing an impeccable job of covering their tracks. In fact, Pakkun was surprised he had picked up her scent at all. He was travelling just ahead of Kakashi, every fibre of his being focused entirely on following that scent. He was desperate to find her as well. Over the years, he had grown to like her, as he did the copy ninja, and was not the kind to become fond of ninja so readily. He was picky about who was allowed to summon him.

Takaru glanced at Okanu, the older of the two boys nodded in recognition.

"Kakashi," Okanu said, catching up. "There's another scent in the air. This one is stronger."

Pakkun sniffed the air. "I don't recognise it."

"We do," Takaru said. "We were following this scent on our last mission with Sakura Haruno when we came upon the ones for Naruto Uzumaki and Sasuke Uchiha. It belongs to an operative of Orochimaru, or at least, we suspected as much. In our mission briefing recently, we were prepared for this possibility."

"How did you smell it?" Kakashi asked, genuinely interested.

"Sakura taught us how to use chakra to enhance our sense of smell," Okanu said. "I'm an Inuzuka, so I already had a pretty strong sense of smell, but this is even stronger."

"You're an Inuzuka?" Pakkun asked. "Where's your ninja hound? I thought all Inuzuka pups were bonded early."

Okanu was proud of his heritage, but because no pup would take to him, he had no clan based jutsu and took his sense of smell with a much more heightened pride than most others of his clan. But he didn't take it personally that Pakkun was surprised. Shock was a natural reaction from someone who didn't know the inner workings of his clan. But he was embarrassed by it, even though he never showed this.

"A lot of young don't get a pup right away," Okanu said. "It might be a few more years before I get one. Only the main branch always gets one at a young age, it 's tradition."

Pakkun nodded, understanding. Really, he needed to brush up on the regulations of that clan. Spending so much time as a summons, he didn't do as much socialising as he used to. Sakura liked to summon him, for all kinds of reasons, like tracking or company when on solo missions. He didn't mind. But if Kakashi summoned him that much he might get suspicious.

Suspicious of what? Well, of his natural tendency toward laziness. Kakashi was a great ninja, but what few people knew about him was that he had a habit of just letting things pass so he didn't have to do more work. Sure, he was no Shikamaru Nara, but he was still a handful. Just last week, he'd summoned Pakkun to a field and asked him to find a genjutsu trap that his Sharingan eye could easily have found. It was like looking for a needle in a haystack.

"So," Kakashi was saying, "do you recognise who the scent belongs to?"

"Yes sir," Takaru answered for his friend. "It smells like Kabuto Yakushi."

X X X

Tired of training, Sasuke Uchiha left Naruto to train by himself, knowing the blonde would probably just fall asleep out here soon anyway. The sun would be rising in a few hours, and Sasuke found himself walking past the cell where the pinkette was sleeping. He peered in, finding that she had untangled herself from the hitai-ate he'd used to tie her to the bed and chuckled softly. He contemplated walking in there right now, tearing her clothes off again to leave her permanently naked. She would be so much more _fun_ that way, and he'd probably take the opportunity to escort her to the bathroom personally. If she was covered in suds and wiping herself clean in front of him, he wouldn't be able to hold back his hard on.

Sasuke was exhausted from his sparring with Naruto and decided instead just to let the pink haired Kunoichi be, for now. He would be back for her after his trip to the land of waves anyhow. But the idea of not seeing her for a few days, or possibly more, annoyed him. He contemplated the many ways he could take her with him as he ambled toward his room She was strong, he had seen this as he'd fought her and her squad, but was currently debilitated.

What he would need to take her with him was either her compliance (impossible right now), or a casket or something to carry her in. He inwardly chuckled at himself. He wasn't going to do _that_ just to bring some Kunoichi with him. He needed to get his priorities in order. But as Sasuke approached the corridor that contained his room, he couldn't stop thinking about her. She was making him hard, and he wasn't even touching her, let alone anywhere near her.

He sighed, ignoring the guards flanking his bedroom: one male, one female, he'd stolen them from Orochimaru, and the snake Sannin thought they were dead. They had a compulsion jutsu over them, preventing them from doing anything he hadn't told them to do, and he sometimes forgot to tell them to eat, sleep, or bathe. But it was fine. If they dropped dead, he'd just replace them anyway.

He closed the door and started to get undressed. The images of the pinkette writhing underneath him and complaining made him throb and now only in boxers, Sasuke laid down, and the shorts down and out of the way so he could stroke himself. The flesh of his dick responded appreciatively and he closed his eyes, thinking of that perfectly sculptured body. She was so soft and yet firm at the same time, both wet and tight as well as calm while squirming to get free of him. Sasuke grunted his liquid flowing over himself as he came.

He needed to sleep, and not dwell. He knew he wouldn't be taking the pinkette with him come morning, and resolved himself to the fact that his physical needs for her would have to wait. The person waiting for him in the land of waves was an old friend of theirs, and the answer to their desire to destroy the leaf. With that pleasant thought, he fell into a restless sleep.

X X X

A/N: A slow update, but I'm satisfied with it, even if it is a little shorter than anticipated.  
>Please love and review. It really does inspire me to write faster. ^_^<p> 


	5. Unexpected Visitors

Author's Notes: Sasuke and Naruto are both missing-nin and Sakura is a tracking ninja with no strong memories of either Naruto or Sasuke. The pairings are NejiSaku and SasuSaku, but I won't tell you how it ends… You'll just have to read and find out. ;)  
>Some of the canon characters have slightly different back grounds, such as there was no attack on Hinata by ninja from Kumogakure, so Hizashi Hyuuga is still alive. And Neji does not have the cage bird seal, due to amendments years ago. You'll discover more as the chapters go by.<br>Sakura, Sasuke, Naruto, and the rest of the rookie 9 are 17 years old. And Neji, Tenten, and Lee are all 18 years.

Read, love, and review! :)

Chapter Five. Unexpected Visitors.

Tsunade Senju burped and wiped her mouth, ignoring the deep sigh from Shizune. She wasn't drunk, and had only had three sake bottles, though feeling a little light headed anyway. It was her concern for her student that made her want to raid every bar in town, and take all of their intoxicants for herself. She was extremely depressed. Sakura had never gotten into such a drawn out situation before; never for this long and never without a trace. At least, not to Tsunade's knowledge. For all she knew, Sakura Haruno got captured every time she stepped foot outside of the village, and used her feminine wiles to escape before the time on the mission expired.

Tsunade smirked at that, her eyes grazing over the paperwork in front of her, like a hungry lion observing a gazelle. She was supposed to be paying attention to this paperwork, and realising just how much her attention had slipped, she narrowed her eyes at it ferociously. The sun had risen and Shizune had _dragged_ her out of bed; there wasn't time for a hangover or feel miserable over what was going on. Kakashi Hatake had sent her a message, using a ninja hound, to update her about the search for Sakura, as she'd _demanded_ he do.

'_Pull yourself together, you idiot,' _she snapped at herself and sat up straight, straining her eyes at the scroll in front of her.

Team Guy would be here any minute and she needed to make sure she was fully happy with giving them _this_ mission. It involved some fishing trader in the land of waves claiming that the man who'd moved in there four to five years ago to take over was in fact a ninja. It was preposterous really, that this rumour might be true. No hidden village would send a ninja to take over the land of waves, and any missing-nin who decided to set up shop there would be quickly and easily found and captured. But still, the rules dictated that she send someone to check it out.

She stared at the name of the signature on the scroll. "Tazuna."

The bridge that had been built years ago to connect the island to the mainland and expand their economy had been named after the man in control of having it built in the first place. Tsunade had never met the man, but he was hailed as a hero over there, the man who had taken over the island was even more so. He was known as Dotsu Kamunera, but if it really was a cover, his real name could be anything. Despite the ludicrous claim, Tsunade found herself shivering involuntarily. Suddenly, she had a bad feeling about this one.

"Milady," Shizune said respectfully, indicating that Guy's team were on the other side of the door.

Tsunade hid her sake bottle and called out "enter", when Guy knocked on the door. The four Jounin entered, only Neji Hyuuga remaining silent, as Tenten bowed respectfully, greeting her, while both Guy and Rock Lee made their greetings as _loud_ as possible. The Hokage was used to this, therefore ignoring their antics. Her new desire to get to the bottom of this claim overruling any frustration she might've normally felt.

"Team Guy, your mission is to travel to the land of waves and track down rumours that the commerce business leader name Dotsu Kamunera is actually a ninja. This is a B Rank, but I wouldn't bet on it staying that way."

She chuckled at herself. Any bets she made weren't worth the paper they were written on anyway.

"Team Guy is on the job!" Guy smiled, flashing his teeth.

Lee suddenly looked downcast, and glanced at Neji.

"Lady Tsunade," he said tentatively, "may I inquire as to the pursuit efforts for Sakura Haruno?"

Tsunade stared at him for a moment as Shizune narrowed her eyes at them both. The Hokage bit her lip, trying to decide what to say. Every person in this room cared about the pinkette, some more than others, so she decided to throw them a bone. Not that they were going to like what she had to say.

"Kakashi sent a message," she said slowly, ignoring the disapproving look on Shizune's face. "The pursuit is ongoing. Hopefully they'll have a general idea of where her scent leads to in a day or two."

She refrained from telling them about Kabuto Yakushi of course. _That_ freak was a high security matter. But Tsunade still felt, even with him ousted, like there was a stench of Orochimaru's influence in the leaf still.

"No idea who took her?" Tenten asked.

The blonde shook her head.

"Alright," Guy said. "We'll leave retrieving young Sakura to my eternal rival and get down to business, shall we? They don't call him the copy ninja for nothing," he added, when his team didn't respond.

"Of course," Tsunade said. "We all have complete faith in Kakashi, as well as Sakura's squad and the Anbu assisting them."

Neji kept his eyes away from his team mates and stared back into the knowing face of the Hokage as she cast her brown eyes on him for longer than necessary. Did _everyone_ know of his feelings for Sakura, or was he just imagining the pity on her face as she watched him? Either that or he was going crazy.

X X X

Otafuku Town wasn't far away, so the silver haired, rogue ninja decided to side track into the busy village. He was supposed to be looking for a hideout, or at least something that could lead him to where Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki were hiding from Orochimaru. His master wasn't pleased that he'd never been able to track them back to the Shrine (as the leaf nins called it), and Kabuto Yakushi had been told not to return until he found it.

What was he supposed to do, comb every inch of the land of fire?

Orochimaru _knew_ it was in this country, and east of Konoha, that was it. The snake Sannin was done trekking through the forest or waiting on summoning animals to sniff it out, so Kabuto was the next choice. Of course, other subordinates had attempted to discover the location, in an attempt to garner favour from Orochimaru, but upon their failure, he had promptly killed them; a few were however, currently strapped to the walls of Orochimaru's labs.

Kabuto laughed softly at this. The idiots had it coming. They shouldn't have promised to know how to find it in the first place. That was the kind of thinking that got people _killed_. Hopes, dreams, promises; they went out the window when Shinobi joined the real world and finally realised they were never going to be anything other than tools, and sacrifices.

He stopped short of the town and cast a simple henge over himself. He wasn't listed in any bingo book (yet), nor did most people realise on first glance that he was a missing-nin (he wasn't wearing his old headband, let alone the one for the sound village). But a little discretion was in order. Leaf ninja were everywhere in these parts after all, and there were still those who recognised his face at least. He'd only just gotten out of Konoha after being ousted as a spy, with his life.

Kabuto had spent several hours, going between the shops and taverns since the sun came up, handing out pictures of Sasuke and Naruto, hoping to get a bite. He took a break to eat something and found himself in a dango shop. The owner was having a heated discussion in the back, but the silver haired, rogue Shinobi ignored them. Looking out over the hustle and bustle, he found himself wishing not for the first time that he didn't have to answer to the likes of Orochimaru. He had his medical ninjutsu talents, but no medical ninja other the legendary Lady Tsunade ever rose to the levels that Lord Orochimaru had accomplished.

Kabuto wanted that power for _himself_. He had it all planned out too.

"Oi, you!"

A rather tardy man was in his face a moment later and Kabuto had to refrain from punching him and not causing a scene. He needed to keep his presence here low key. But the frustrated side of him won out.

"_What_?" He snapped back at him.

"You're sitting in my chair."

"No I'm not."

"Listen here pipsqueak!" The ugly, bald man rolled his sleeves up, in what he clearly thought was an intimidating manner. "Get the fuck out of my chair, right now!"

Before Kabuto could react, the owner came out of the back of the shop, yelling at the both of them to take their problems outside or be banned from his establishment. Unable to help himself, the rogue Shinobi grabbed the bald man, and shunshined them both out of the small restaurant, startling a few patrons who had clearly mistook him for a civilian.

The ugly thug backed away immediately, realising he'd just been accosted by a ninja and looked around to find himself in a dead end alley, very much alone with the man. He rambled and begged, but Kabuto was in no mood to be lenient. He held the man against the slime of the alley wall and showed him the pictures of Sasuke and Naruto.

'_Might as well not waste my time,' _he thought.

The man shook his head. "Never seen them before in my life!"

He grunted when Kabuto tightened his grip around his throat.

"You haven't seen any Shinobi fitting their description?"

It was easy to believe, considering the two brats were also missing-nin and probably also used a henge, but Kabuto strongly believed that Naruto at least, was incapable of always remembering to do so. He would never accept the idea that that idiot was very intelligent, let alone powerful.

"Don't know what you're talking about," the man huffed. "But I did hear some strange noises early this morning, out by the border to Wave Country, near the cliffs. Sounded like ninja to me."

X X X

"Stop ya fucking belly aching!"

Naruto Uzumaki's voice rang out through their hidden compound. He was so loud that Sasuke Uchiha was surprised there were no tracking ninja banging on his door. Even though he knew it wouldn't bring them running if they were nearby, despite the numerous jutsu protecting this place, Sasuke still worried over the level of the noise. The raven haired man sighed, not wanting another run in with more goody-two-shoes Shinobi. He'd had his fill for a life time. The next time he saw leaf ninja, he planned to already be inside Konoha, tearing them apart. He growled as Naruto's voice rang out again. The blonde got like this every time they had to go to the land of waves, whether he was happy to be heading there or not. This time Sasuke was the one who was anticipating their journey there, not to mention deciphering the scroll. But he had been procrastinating, wanting to spend more time with the pinkette.

'_I really need to find out what her name is,' _he thought, packing the essentials into his carry bag.

"Fucking _move_ it!"

Sasuke was curious as to who Naruto was yelling at. He swung his bag over his shoulder, grabbed the forbidden scroll (there was no way he was leaving it to Naruto to carry this time) and headed in the direction of Naruto's room, smiling slightly when he saw the blonde pacing in his room, clearly alone. He wasn't all there "upstairs" really, often talking to the fox in his head, sometimes responding to the thing out loud.

'_I should've known.'_

"Shut the fuck up," Naruto snarled. "You're not the only one looking for that you know."

Sasuke opened his mouth to interrupt him, and then decided to wait for a minute. Naruto was clearly lost in his own world, not bothering to lower his voice and not caring about anything but. The blonde clenched his fists, his face growing feral.

"Well fuck you dick head, I'll do whatever I want. Who are you, no-one. I'm the boss, _me_, not _you_! I'm in control of my body and _you_ are just a stupid, useless voice in my head."

"Stop talking to yourself," Sasuke teased him, his voice and expression both emotionless.

The blonde grabbed a glass off of the table by his bedside and aimed for Sasuke's head. He snarled at him, annoyed that he dodged it, though he knew he wouldn't just stand there and take that. The glass shattered against the wall, but they both ignored it.

"Fuck off teme. You know exactly who I was talking to." Naruto growled. "Packed enough? We'll be gone a few days."

'_Split personality,' _Sasuke mused. He really worried about his friend.

"I'm fine. It's you who's going to kill yourself Naruto."

The blonde grumbled. "Whatever, let's go."

Sasuke remembered to order the sentinels guarding over the pinkette to feed her, give her access to the bathroom and to remember to feed and rest themselves as well. He didn't care if they dropped dead, but if they did that, who would feed the Kunoichi? He ignored his friend's calculating stares and led the way out of the shrine.

They were packed and ready, and started their journey to wave country without saying so much as a word to each other. Sasuke had heard that there used to be a hidden village there, a long time ago, destroyed in the last Shinobi war. It was something to do with whirlpools, or whirling tides… he wasn't sure. The scroll he'd stumbled upon in one of Orochimaru's lairs just mentioned that the village had been known for its Fuuin Jutsu, but he couldn't tell if it was true or just some fairy tale. Either way, it was the place where he would finally get his answers. Well, the country and _not_ some alleged Shinobi village, of course.

The trek didn't last long, as they didn't have far to go. Soon, Port City glistened in the distance and a few hours after that, they found the entrance to the land of waves, once perhaps called the land of whirlpools. The forbidden scroll was strapped to Sasuke's back; he gripped it tightly, as he and Naruto slowed to a stop at the sight of the familiar figures waiting for them at the Tazuna Bridge. They were surprised to see them, but really, they shouldn't have been. The two Shinobi standing in front of them knew them better than anyone else. They had anticipated their arrival here.

Naruto sighed, annoyed. "Pervy sage."

The older man's eyes twitched in frustration, but Sasuke couldn't be bothered caring. With his Sharingan already activated, two sets of red eyes met as he stared at his aniki.

"Itachi."

X X X

A/N: Sorry for the late update. But this chapter was difficult for me, don't know why. Anyway, as usual, please love and review. ^_^


	6. A Shared Pain

Author's Notes: Sorry for the late update. Hadn't been in the right head space for this story.  
>It's been bugging me, not able to write this. I have so many devious plans, lol. But it's here so, please read, love, and review! Love you very much, yes? ^_^<p>

Chapter Six. A Shared Pain.

Sakura Haruno rolled over on the grey prison bed she had been forced to sleep on since her incarceration.

There was a strange, lingering aroma in the air, and she couldn't remember the last time she'd smelt something so delicious. It had woken her up and she silently prayed to Kami that those idiot ninja "statues" that guarded her were going to feed her soon. They had left a few hours ago, so who else would be cooking something right now? The pinkette had drawn the conclusion that no-one else was actually _here_.

Bored to tears, she spent her time thinking about the events that had led her here. All those years that led to her becoming a tracker nin as well as both a genjutsu expert and the newest student to the legendary Sannin, Lady Tsunade. Pushing herself to become the best Kunoichi she could be, Sakura had sacrificed her social life and was barely hanging onto the friendships that she had. This left little to no time for _anything_ outside of her training, and she had been surprised by her own daring when she'd let her inhibitions go for one night and gave her virginity to Neji Hyuuga.

'_Neji…'_

Sakura missed him so much, his touch, his deep, husky voice; the way he'd made her feel like the most important person in the world. She felt now, like she was just a tool, some sick, twisted sex toy for Sasuke Uchiha. The thought that, once he returned from wherever he'd run off to, that the raven haired man would be "visiting" her again, made her cry. She wasn't blind; he was extremely attractive, well endowed, and _very_ well toned. He smelt so _good_. She could detect the subtleties in his masculine scent as he'd raped her, and despite her disgust at what he'd done to her, could not deny her physical response to him.

Said senses were a result of the training she'd been musing on for hours now.

Sakura had always been very good with genjutsu, which used the five senses to trick the enemy, and as a result, she had trained to heighten said senses. Firstly, her tutelage had begun under Kurenai Yuhi, who had her excused from the majority of her academy lessons (it didn't hurt that her theory was strong enough that even while missing many classes, she still passed with flying colours). Kurenai Sensei had known the Haruno family for years and took Sakura on as a favour to her parents. Shortly after, she was asked by Hiashi Hyuuga to take his oldest daughter on as a student as well, and despite the addition to her workload, the genjutsu mistress agreed.

So Sakura spent a lot of time with both Kurenai and Hinata and they became firm friends. This was how she'd met Neji. Every time Kurenai picked up Hinata for their training, Sakura was forced to remain alone, in the waiting room of the visitor's building of the compound. She wasn't allowed any further in, apparently. She never understood _why_. Neji came into the waiting room one day, and asked her why she was there. He'd seen her a few times, but was too busy to come and talk to her. She decided she liked him, rather quickly, but nothing but friendship had resulted… at first. It wasn't until the night after their first mission alone, and together, that he'd shown her he was interested in her.

Sakura shook herself, as the memories of that night forced silent tears down her face. She sniffed the air instead. The aroma made her think of pork ramen and baked potatoes. She was so _hungry_! When were those idiots going to feed her! She was hanging on by a thread here! Her stomach was eating itself, she was certain of it. Sakura sat up weakly, and leant against the wall, her mind wandering again.

When she was fifteen, she was switched to a squad and separated from her Sensei and best friend. She joined Kakashi Hatake, Kiba Inuzuka, and Shino Aburame. It was a squad strong in tracking, except for her, so she asked Kakashi if he would teach her a few tricks, so she could keep up with Kiba and Shino. That was how she eventually ended up being the only person other than her Sensei with the contract that allowed her to summon Pakkun, and the rest of the ninja hounds. She was seventeen now, and had been the leader of her own proper tracking squad for six months. She'd learnt the ins and outs of it quickly even though, inside of Konoha at least, tracking rogue ninja had become a rarely used skill.

They were going strong in Kirigakure, because that hidden village had the highest missing-nin rate of them all.

But there were still leaf missing-nin, and Sakura had argued with the Hokage that they still needed to be taken seriously.

'_Lady Tsunade.'_

Her shishou had agreed to teach her medical jutsu, and for the last two years, she'd been learning from the Hokage in between missions and such. Sakura had already resolved, before being captured by Sasuke Uchiha, that she was going to get more aggressive with her studies. She'd been so distracted lately.

On that thought, the smell of _food_ became stronger and she realised those idiots were headed her way. Finally, she was going to _eat_! They opened the door and left the plate on the ground for her before backing out of the room. Attacking the food like some ravenous, wild animal, Sakura's mind went blank as she just enjoyed the taste and warmth. It was delicious. When the guards came back half an hour later to collect the plate, she made a decision. It was the first, concrete idea she'd had, on exactly _how_ she was going to escape from this dingy prison.

X X X

Itachi Uchiha hadn't expected to see his little brother here, of all places. He'd heard he was nearby, but why _here_? And looking at him, with that scroll strapped to his back, it gave him an ominous feeling. That was a forbidden scroll. He had no idea where he'd gotten it, though it _did_ look familiar, but there was no way Sasuke had asked for it nicely and promptly left the former owner alone, alive and unhurt. The blonde, Naruto Uzumaki, was giving Jiraiya a frustrated look. He ignored Itachi as Itachi ignored him. The older Uchiha addressed the younger one.

"What are you doing here little otouto?"

Sasuke Uchiha growled at this. _'Little, little brother?'_

Was the first adjective meant as a reference to his height or unimportance? He knew what Itachi had done, and _why_ he'd killed off their clan. This wasn't the older brother's intentions; his plans had been ruined by Sasuke finding out, and leaving the village hidden in the leaves that night. He _knew_ that Danzou had ordered Itachi to kill his people, with the support of the elders. He didn't care that the third Hokage had tried to talk him out of it, and that Itachi had tricked the old man into thinking he'd succeeded to get him off his back.

Sasuke only cared that his family was gone and that the elders and Danzou needed to _die_. All of Konoha could burn for all he cared. He remembered the looks on their faces, the heartless way they spoke about what they'd done. They _needed_ to die, didn't Itachi understand that? He had followed their orders, he had abandoned his clan.

Sasuke felt the burning, Uchiha hatred churning inside of him, rising to the surface. He _hated_ his aniki for that. Why, oh _why_ had he chosen those old, decrepit _fools_ over the life he had with their family. The clan was family, and family came first, _dammit_!

But the older brother would not tell him. He would not ease his desire for answers. He had told Sasuke years ago that he would only help him understand this if he staunched his hatred for Konoha. The people were innocent: the civilians and the ninja who had no idea that the infamous Itachi Uchiha had not killed his people on some mere whim. Once Sasuke let go of that blame, he would tell him. He could not continue along the premise he had set for himself all those years ago. He wasn't going to be meeting Sasuke on the battlefield and dying by his hand only to afford his otouto the peace of mind he deserved. All of that was ruined now, by that seemingly innocuous day when Sasuke had overheard… too much.

Itachi had not left behind the Akatsuki however, still trying to decipher Madara. Right now, he wasn't wearing the cloak that would announce his connection to the organisation, preferring to remain inconspicuous in this region for now. But lately, instead of drowning in missions for Pein, he'd been spending more time keeping an eye on his brother. Sasuke had no intention of killing him anymore, unless he got in his way. He was reserving his hatred for Konoha only. And all Itachi could do now was hope there was some light still left in Sasuke, something he could reach before it was too late. The older brother wanted to save him, but so much had gone wrong, and whatever it took, he was _going_ to keep his former home safe.

No matter what.

Sasuke knew this. It only fuelled his hatred and anger. While the Sannin and jinchuriki stood, gawking at the tension in the air, being created by the two Sharingan wielders, the raven haired man suddenly attacked.

He lunged forward, the Chidori turning his arm into a lightning blade. He'd learnt this from Kakashi Hatake, shortly before he left the village: it was ironic, that something that had been taught to him by someone as renowned as the copy ninja was going to be a large part his revenge on Konoha. But Sasuke had only been fourteen years old when he left the village, six months off from his fifteenth birthday. He'd had plenty of time to make it his own. His attack wasn't quick enough. He had known this was true, but ignored the doubt in his mind that told him he was too weak. He needed to be stronger. He needed more _power_!

Itachi grabbed his arm with one hand, negating the Chidori, and pulled the younger Uchiha up and off of his feet. Looking straight into those angry eyes, he took note of the dual tomoe. It did not compare to _his_. Suddenly, the world disappeared and Sasuke found himself on all fours, the familiar world of red, black and white greeting him. It was Itachi's Mangekyō world. Was he going to torture him again?

"I'm not going to use Tsukiyomi on you this time," Itachi said, appearing in front of him as though reading his mind.

'_Of course,'_

"Then what is this?" Sasuke asked, spitting.

"I want to talk to you without master Jiraiya or Naruto listening in. Sasuke, I need you to turn around and forget your revenge."

Sasuke shook his head, remaining on all fours, feeling too weak to stand.

"_No_," he said venomously. "_Never_."

Itachi sighed. "Your revenge will only get you killed, do you really want that?"

"I will do whatever it takes to avenge _my_ clan," Sasuke said. "So stop trying to tell me not to: you took them away from me, you stole my life. But there are those who would call themselves _gods_, killing and scheming as they want, with no repercussions. I _will_ tear them down, aniki, with or without your help. Don't get in my way."

"Then you will die."

"It will be worth it to bring them down," Sasuke said, now kneeling as though in prayer.

"Then who will revive the clan? Isn't that still one of your goals?"

Sasuke looked up at him, startled. He still wanted the clan reborn, right? He _needed_ his revenge, but he also needed to bring the Uchiha out of their imminent extinction. He had always said this. The younger brother thought on this, ignoring the stoic look Itachi was giving him. He wanted a brighter, happier future. So how was he going to get this if he _died_? The two goals seemed to conflict.

Sasuke made his decision. He would not die to get his revenge, but he _would_ get it. Once this was done, he'd find some out of the way place and start rebuilding his clan. The things he would need to do in order to accomplish this… he knew about sex. He loved sex. But he had to be careful about where he went from there.

Sasuke looked up at Itachi, returning the intensity of his stare.

"I can do both," he said venomously.

"Then you leave me no choice otouto."

The Mangekyō world disappeared, and Sasuke found himself still held up and off of the ground by his brother. Itachi released his hold, throwing him away; he landed on his back, Tazuna Bridge behind his aniki as the older Uchiha started to summon his otherworldly power.

"Sasuke!"

Naruto tried to run to his friend, but Jiraiya stopped him. The white haired Sannin grabbed his godson and pulled him out of the way of a blast sent over the area by Itachi. It wasn't a lethal hit, but it crashed into Sasuke all the same; Jiraiya sensed it was some kind of genjutsu. The emanation of the chakra lingering in the air reminded the pervert of the last time he'd seen the Susanoo. Perhaps they were connected. With that kind of power, Itachi could bring an entire village to its knees, and could certainly keep Sasuke in check. But he wanted to try to convince his brother to do the right thing.

Jiraiya personally, thought it a lost cause. Not that he could talk.

He held tighter to Naruto, glancing down at the struggling jinchuriki in his hands. Oh how he wished he could rewind time. He would have stayed in Konoha, looked after Naruto… no scrap that, he would have taken Minato's place in sealing the Kyuubi. In a world where old men played puppeteers to power and greed, the young were the ones who paid the price. Jiraiya wanted to spare the blonde the kind of suffering _he_ could only imagine. He _should_ have. He wanted to give the son of his favourite student everything he needed. Naruto deserved so much more than this life had given him. What the village had given him.

Swallowing heavily at that, Jiraiya forced the anger and disgust aside. There was a time and place.

This was Itachi and Sasuke's fight. He had no doubt that Sasuke was no match for his older brother, and pondered on whether or not Itachi would be willing to _kill_ him. Naruto started to shake in Jiraiya's hands and the sage realised suddenly that the demon's power was seeping out of him in his rage. Quickly, he performed a few hand signs and knocked his godson unconscious before the first tail could emerge. There was no need to let him get out of control.

Meanwhile, Sasuke's screams echoed over the area, the power of Itachi's attack seemingly consuming him. But the older Uchiha did not go for the kill. He brought his brother back to earth, grabbing him again, much like he had when dispersing the Chidori and looked him in the face. Itachi half grunted, holding Sasuke in his grip without difficulty. His otouto was powerful, but no match for the older Uchiha. He didn't want to hurt his little brother though, and pushed the words out of his mouth that he needed him to hear. The truth that neither of them could escape.

"I won't let you harm Konoha little otouto."

Sasuke snarled at him weakly, blood trickling out of his mouth as he spoke. "Then _kill_ me Itachi, because that's what it will take to stop me."

X X X

A/N: Oh yay! Love the cliff hanger. ;P  
>And yes, the NejiSaku part of this story is coming. This is still just the first arc of the story. Give me a couple of chapters, 'kay? Please love and review. ^_^<p> 


	7. On the Sidelines

Author's Notes: Took forever, but it's finally here. There are a few things in this chapter that will become VERY important later, not the least of which will be the more obvious one. Later…  
>Read, love, and review! ^_^<p>

Chapter Seven. On the Sidelines.

There was no mistaking what he was looking at. Neji Hyuuga could see it plain as day. The land of waves was on fire. He didn't need his Byakugan to see it from this distance. There was someone there, someone powerful, and they were fighting, or had just exploded and been destroyed. A separate tremor rippled out for miles and Team Guy halted their advance. Neji kept his eyes on the bright display, his Byakugan activated now, and watching the almost dance of colliding chakras. It was incredibly powerful, reminding him of that day four years ago, when a similar power had rocked Konoha.

He glanced at his Sensei and Guy nodded back to him silently. It was obvious this was the same power. Neji had heard from his Jounin instructor that it belonged to Naruto Uzumaki, the vessel of the nine tailed fox, who was also a missing-nin. He'd just snapped one day, when a prank against him had gone horribly wrong, and let the Kyuubi power out. Even those too young to understand at the time what had happened knew it was some kind of "demon". This more than anything, had solidified many people's belief that Uzumaki _was_ the demon now.

Neji didn't think so. After that day, he'd read up on the tailed beasts, having to do so without permission, and gathered that not all the elemental beasts were so naturally disposed toward wrecking random destruction. Sure, they were demons, but if the boy had been overcome, why did he simply flee the village that had tormented him so, and not transformed fully? It was that seed of doubt in him over this that his cousin Hinata shared as well. She'd admitted to him recently that she'd always fancied the young Naruto, and had taken to stalking him, in her own, shy way. So more than anything, she felt guilty for not being there for him – perhaps things could've been different.

Neji shook himself of these thoughts as Lee started to complain.

"We can't get close, Lee," Tenten was saying as Guy stopped his student from charging out of the treetops. "We'll be killed."

"But Tenten–"

"No Lee," Guy said solemnly.

Neji remained quiet as they attempted to pacify Lee, who was looking distraught at the thought that someone was dying down there. There was nothing they could do, and they would die trying. He glanced back the way they'd come, thinking. It was so strange to have encountered Naruto Uzumaki here of all places, when Sakura was still missing. Was he to blame for her disappearance? He'd heard a rumour that Sakura's tracking squad had picked up the scent of Naruto and that other rogue leaf ninja Sasuke Uchiha on the mission she'd had just before the one that got her taken. It couldn't be a mere coincidence could it?

The explosion was dissipating, and Neji peered through it, noting the outline of four people, one clearly partly transformed into some animalistic form. It was so odd to see, but in the next instant, all four Shinobi had vanished, as though he'd just been imagining them. It was over.

When the danger had receded, Guy led his team toward the area cautiously. But there was nothing left, and the landscape, although severely damaged, was still traversable. Again, Neji felt useless, having only been an observer, but they had a separate mission of their own, and no way to know where any of the ninja who had been standing in this exact spot only minutes before, could possibly have gone. Travelling with his team, he hadn't allowed himself much sleep, as not knowing what had happened to Sakura was more than just a little bit disturbing.

Neji didn't know how much longer he could keep his concerns at bay in his actions, on his face. He was falling apart and even though everyone knew he missed the pinkette, they could not see the depths of his heartache. And until he saw her again, they never would.

'_And I __will__ see her again, even if I have to become a missing-nin myself.'_

X X X

The scent of Sakura Haruno was fading fast, and the overwhelming stench of Kabuto Yakushi was, well… _overwhelming_. It was the only lead they had, not that they really believed he had anything to do with the pinkette's disappearance anyway. It was a possibility, especially now, but Kakashi Hatake wasn't ruling anything out. Kabuto had run away from him when they'd last seen each other. The man had a tendency to do that. He had been ousted as a spy for Orochimaru and fled before they could capture him, like a coward.

Pakkun took the lead, with Kakashi right behind him, and Takaru Hyuuga and Okanu Inuzuka flanking _him_; the Anbu accompanying them took the rear. They had been travelling for almost two days now, and rejuvenated by this new scent, Pakkun knew they were only an hour behind the former spy. They were close now, and given the fact that Kakashi didn't believe in coincidences, following Kabuto was the best course now.

Kakashi ordered the Anbu off in other directions, hoping to ambush Kabuto before he even realised they were there. It worked. Before Kabuto could escape, the now separate groups had him surrounded.

"Everyone stay out of this fight," Kakashi told them, his hand resting on his hitai-ate.

He wasn't sure how far he should go for this fight. Last time, he had left his Sharingan covered and Kabuto had escaped. Perhaps this time, he would need to go all the way, straight away; there was only one outcome that would satisfy him now.

"Sure you don't want to revise that?" Kabuto Yakushi asked, hiding the extent of his frustration at being found. He was supposed to be looking for Sasuke and Naruto! The shrine was nearby, he was _sure_ of it, but this interruption had cost him dearly, and he couldn't stay here now.

"Oh, I think I can take you," Kakashi said sarcastically.

He was quick too, moving out of the medic's line of sight before Kabuto had registered he was staring at a tree trunk instead of the copy ninja. His hand signs went unseen by the spy, and Kabuto only just avoided the wall of fire, pushing himself to get closer to Kakashi, as his own abilities were more effect in close range. He needed to get out of here, and the first step was not to get roasted alive. He was a skilled medic, but also outnumbered and overpowered. Kakashi moved toward him again, his Sharingan blazing as his Chidori grazed the younger man's cheek. The medic attempted to sidestep as the shock travelled through his body, only to be met with Kakashi's foot. The base of the copy ninja's open toe sandal slammed into his thigh, pushing him to the ground.

He rolled out of the way, his chakra scalpels barely missing the tendons in Kakashi's left foot as he went. He cursed his bad luck and sent out a barrage of poison tipped senbon – a new technique he'd added to his arsenal, it was mostly effective against non-medic ninja, as the medical trained knew how to counter it. Kunai clashed and standing on the sidelines, Takaru Hyuuga and Okanu Inuzuka were in awe. Kabuto was above average, a worthy opponent, but it was the speed and skill of the copy ninja that was bringing this fight to a hasty conclusion.

Kakashi had a kunai to Kabuto's throat, and his legs locked to keep him from getting away.

"There's no escape for you this time," he said evenly. "And Orochimaru won't be planning to rescue you, considering how lowly he thinks of his servants."

Kabuto shifted slightly, his chakra infused hands hitting the older man, startling him. How had he gotten under his defence like that?

The spy grunted. "Oh but, Orochimaru has plans for _you_, copy ninja."

"What are you talking about?" Kakashi asked, only mildly interested – mostly disgusted.

But Kabuto just shook his head, wiping the blood from him mouth. "Now, now, that would be telling," he scolded.

And in the next moment, he performed the teleportation technique and disappeared. The coward had escaped… again.

X X X

Sasuke Uchiha was eager to get his business in the land of waves over and done with and return to the shrine; to the pink haired Kunoichi waiting for him. He was getting fidgety, needing a release, but Naruto hadn't recovered yet, and taking the time for him to heal was the least he owed him. If it weren't for Naruto, they wouldn't have made it here. It still scared Sasuke, how determined his aniki was to protect Konoha, despite all those bastards had done to their family. But it only made him more resolute: he would show Itachi, prove to him that it is better to just get rid of vermin, rather than ignore it and hope it doesn't skitter back into old habits. It's kill or be killed.

He didn't react as Takito Umanashi knocked on the door and entered a moment later. The old man would take them in when they stayed here, looking after them and never asking questions. It was rare to find someone like that – even servants couldn't be trusted not to voice their thoughts. But Takito was more than that. He used to live in Konoha, and outside of the Uchiha clan, he was the best friend of Fugaku Uchiha. They had gone to the academy together, been friendly rivals, and eventually parted ways when Takito was forced to flee the village hidden in the leaves.

But Fugaku had kept up correspondence with the man, and Takito was an Uchiha at heart, really.

Sasuke glanced at the sleeping form of Naruto Uzumaki and then moved to the door, motioning to Takito to follow him back out.

The old man closed the door quietly. "He'll need more time to recover, yes?"

Takito was curious as to how this blonde could get so drained; his chakra was normally so substantial, so _hardy_. He could tell that Sasuke was keeping a deeper secret about this Naruto, they were always both very secretive with Takito about the blonde's past when he asked. Not that he minded. He was keeping secrets from the Uchiha about himself after all. Nothing that would hurt Sasuke of course, he would never harm the youngest son of Fugaku. He had been good to Takito for years, so he wouldn't defy his memory in that way. So he didn't question Sasuke on his friend and instead offered aid whenever the two needed help or sanctuary.

"He's tough," Sasuke said without elaborating. "He should be fine by morning, but I want to keep him under until we return to the shrine. He's going to be pissed when he wakes up."

"You're pretty angry yourself."

Takito led the way back to the sitting room and offered the Uchiha some tea.

"Itachi has that effect on me."

"What happened?"

Sasuke growled softly, but relented. Takito wanted the leaf to pay for the Uchiha clan massacre as much as he did. He could understand he felt a feeling of hollowness at the loss of his greatest friend.

"He headed me off on my way to the land of waves and tried to convince me to leave Konoha alone."

Takito snorted. "Always the ignorant follower that one. How did you get away from him? I doubt Itachi would have just _let_ you go."

Sasuke stared out the window, watching the thunderstorm in the distance that was coming slowly closer. "He did."

That was a lie. Sasuke wasn't about to tell Takito, whether he was a friend to Fugaku or not, what Naruto had done to get them out of there. He could hardly believe it himself. Sometimes he wished Naruto would just let loose on Konoha, regardless of the danger to the blonde. It would solve so many problems so easily. He sighed.

Maybe after this latest incident, Naruto would be more receptive to the idea. The Kyuubi was a powerful demon, an unlimited source of chakra. He glanced in the direction of the room that held his friend. But it would be worth it, if he found a way to make Naruto angry enough to just forget their plans with the forbidden scroll and transform into the nine tails in the heart of Konoha. The death toll would be enormous; that was what they were both looking for. And just the idea of the people of that traitorous village burning for their sins was enough to bring a rare smile to Sasuke's face.

'_And there's nothing Itachi can do to stop that.'_

"As for this scroll," Takito said, drawing Sasuke's attention to him. "You do realise what it is you have in your possession, don't you?"

The Uchiha shook his head. "That's why I wanted you to look at it. I think it's an Uchiha scroll, but I don't know anyone else I can trust who would be able to tell for sure."

The old man nodded. "It is indeed an Uchiha scroll. It once belonged to Madara."

"Madara?"

"Yes, that arrogant, filthy scum who tried to take control of the clan eighty years ago. Your father told me he had a forbidden scroll hidden in the Naka Shrine all those years ago."

"And how do you know this is it?" Sasuke asked, running his fingers over the forbidden scroll. It didn't look or feel familiar, and he'd already tried to use his Sharingan on it, but couldn't see it, let alone unseal it.

"It has Madara's seal on it of course. He was the only one who ever used it."

"Then what was Konoha doing with it?"

Takito sighed. "I believe it was given to the third Hokage by your brother."

Sasuke's head snapped up. "What? Why?"

"Because it was one of Madara's main weapons in his attempt to take over Konoha, and if it hadn't been stolen from him by the Uchiha council, he'd have succeeded."

X X X

A/N: A little shorter than usual, but the next chapter is almost done, so it shouldn't take as long this time.  
>In the meantime, please love and review. ^_^<p> 


	8. Aggravated

Author's Notes: Okay, time for some time-skip fun: sorry if it makes this chapter a bit rushed. This used to be two chapters, but I wasn't happy with them, so I merged them. The excess of what used to be here will come later, more than likely in the form of flashbacks. ;)  
>Read, love, and review! ^_^<p>

Chapter Eight. Aggravated.

Sasuke Uchiha had carried Naruto Uzumaki all the way back to the shrine a week ago, and was currently training, trying to figure out how to unseal this forbidden scroll. All Takito Umanashi had been able to tell him was that his Sharingan was the key. It could be opened by Itachi, probably, but that was not going to happen, so Sasuke resolved to do this himself. He was quite capable of doing this all by himself…

And when he wasn't training, he was spending his time with Sakura. He'd whispered to her, told her sweet things, and made her blush with the dirty thoughts going through his mind until he caught her off guard and she told him her name. He felt like he could do _anything_, and everything was coming together; he had the scroll, would soon figure out how to use it, and had moved Sakura to his personal chambers, where she would be waiting when he was done for the day.

He focused his eyes on the scroll, looking at it normally, memorising every inch of it. Sasuke then activated his Sharingan, and looked again, hoping to see something different. There was an unfamiliar chakra inside of it, which he could only guess belonged to this Madara character that Takito had told him not to trust, but how to open it…

'_Inu Mi Ushi Hitsuji… no, Tatsu Mi Saru… aargh!'_

"Saru…"

The stupid hand signs weren't working. He channelled his chakra, formed a few unsealing signs he knew, and then moved onto the few he could remember from training with his father, after the man had given up on Itachi.

"God dammit!" Sasuke opened his Chidori and slammed it into a tree, shattering the frail thing.

He couldn't get it! Oh but Itachi would probably get it on the first try! Just thinking this, whether it was true or not, made his blood boil. Fuck Itachi! Fuck Konoha! Fuck the stupid old prune Danzou and his lust for Uchiha power! He glared down at the scroll.

"And fuck _you_."

His Sharingan was activated, which was why he didn't miss the minute shift in chakra. The unfamiliar chakra had moved slightly, he could see it. Staring down at it, Sasuke felt himself start to calm, but the chakra stopped moving the moment he did this. What the hell was all that about? Was it reacting to his _emotions_? That was stupid.

But the more he thought about it, the more it made sense. Takito had said it belonged to Madara. Madara wanted revenge on the Uchiha and Konoha alike, but what drove him? Anger, resentment, and desire for power and control over others; this was what Takito had said. But how much did that man actually _know_ about Madara?

And how was he supposed to use these emotions to open this scroll? All it had done was _shift_ in response to them. Sasuke looked up at the sky as it began to darken, the last light of the setting sun bright only a moment before and now gone completely. The moon was full tonight.

'_I have time.'_

X X X

Sakura Haruno didn't bother pretending to be asleep when Sasuke returned to the room anymore. He always seemed to see straight through this particular façade. So she sat up on the bed as he entered, having to shift her thoughts, which had been dwelling on Neji… on how to get out of here, and where Sasuke was hiding that forbidden scroll. He didn't want her to see it, but seemed to trust her enough to keep her in his room as opposed to that cell. This meant he had spiralled out of "I just want to fuck you" and into something completely different. One moment he was cold and fucking her hard and fast, the next he would embrace her, kiss her, and whisper words to her that she had only heard from one other man before. Except when Neji Hyuuga had told her how good she was and gently caressed her, she was not confused or violated.

Was it his twisted mind making him do this, or something _she_ had done?

Lady Tsunade had not been very happy with her when she'd turned down becoming some Anbu seductress, even though she understood _why_. The legendary Sannin hadn't become known for _her_ sexual prowess after all.

If what he had said was true, and the Anbu who had accompanied her were dead, then she would have to escape from here on her own, _with_ the forbidden scroll. And he was letting down his guard, right? Maybe he was becoming obsessed with her. The thought scared her, but it also offered her a valuable opportunity, and she intended on taking advantage of it. She was an elite ninja after all.

'_I can do this.'_

Sasuke dumped his weapons on the floor and pulled the open shirt he'd been wearing off, letting it fall away lifelessly. He ignored her, moving toward the bathroom, but she said and did nothing at the dismissal. He always showered immediately after training and she knew what was coming when he exited the bathroom only ten minutes later. Quite suddenly, his eyes were on hers, those onyx orbs piercing her as though reading her thoughts and she restrained her desire to flinch as he moved toward her.

Sasuke was on her before she could respond and Sakura swallowed heavily, just letting it happen.

The tenderness in his voice disturbed her yes, but it also turned her on. Her thoughts were getting crazier and crazier. But if she had any hope of getting out of here, she had to make him believe she could be trusted. He had to believe she was falling for him.

'_But how far am I willing to take this act?' _She wondered.

It was true that his only intention of capturing her had to be to rape her and she was finding herself more and more attracted to him every time he came in, but there had to be a line not to cross. She hadn't accepted any of the seduction missions offered to her by the Hokage when she became Anbu for a reason, and when she was transferred into the tracker units, it became a moot point. And then there was the fact that until Sasuke Uchiha, she had only slept with Neji, that one time. So she was inept in the seduction role. Needing to know how to use her womanly wiles to get a man (Shinobi or not) to let down his guard was a strong _need_ right now.

She had started by faking her orgasms, but it was becoming increasingly easier to moan for real. It was her own fault; closing her eyes, she always imagined that Neji was the one who had bent her over. In her mind's eye she had imagined so many times that the Hyuuga was the one pounding her, playing with her breasts with one hand, and running his other hand over her clit to heighten her arousal.

That was how she was finding it easier to not fight back, right?

The weeks wore on, and Sakura found herself at the mercy of the Uchiha, over and over again. She found herself not caring to cry anymore, not that Sasuke had seen her tears, or heard them. Sakura could only hold on for dear life as he took his pleasure with her. When she was menstruating he wouldn't even touch her, but was considerate enough to give her what she needed to not fall pregnant. She had worried about that, after the first time, but he wasn't going to let her go anytime soon and her getting pregnant didn't seem to be on his agenda… for now.

So Sakura thanked Kami for small mercies, praying to him to help her escape before Sasuke changed his mind.

X X X

"What the fuck, teme?" Naruto Uzumaki snarled. "What are you still doing with that leaf whore?"

"None of your business you baka, now go away, can't you see I'm trying to train?"

Naruto glanced at the scroll. "Just tear it open, or let me. The Kyuubi can give me the strength to break through sealed scrolls."

Sasuke looked intrigued for a moment, and then shrugged. "The Sharingan is the key. I need to figure this out myself."

"Fine teme, but when you _finally_ realise you're a dick, you know where to find me."

"Hn."

"I'm going to kill the leaf rat now…"

Sasuke glared at him, his Sharingan blaring. "Don't you dare."

Naruto smirked at him. "Fine, whatever."

'_Sorry teme.'_

He left him be and returned to his room to grab his kunai. Since Sasuke was being such a stubborn mule, he would continue training for several more hours at least. He was becoming as obsessed with that scroll as he was with the pink haired ninja.

'_Sakura.'_

What a stupid name. Honestly, who named their daughter after a tree, or a flower? Her family name was probably even worse. Not that he cared.

Naruto pulled a kunai out of his side pouch and fingered the blade thoughtfully: if he killed the Kunoichi, teme would be pissed off, but for how long? Would he really hold it against him forever? Seriously, she was just some leaf whore, and _he_ was Sasuke's best friend. The two were very different and if positions were reversed, Naruto certainly would not kill Sasuke for killing _his_ slut. Friendship was more important.

So with that thought in mind and a firm grip on his kunai, Naruto left his room and made for Sasuke's. He would make it quick and painless and she should be grateful. He didn't do that for other enemies. She was a leaf ninja sure, but she had some sort of power over teme, so the least he could do was make it easier for her.

The thought sickened him.

But he would do it anyway. Quick… painless… better than she deserved.

Naruto saw the guards that were assigned to the pinkette and knew that they were under orders not to let _anyone_ in there, even him… only Sasuke. But they were just automatons, so he could dispatch them easily enough. Still, the noise would draw _Sakura's_ attention and the element of surprise was key to taking her down quickly. He didn't want her to scream and alert teme. So Naruto used the transformation jutsu and the guards didn't try to stop him, let alone acknowledge his existence, and broke the seal keeping the leaf rat in Sasuke's quarters.

Seriously, if it wasn't for the seal, she'd have escaped. These _guards_ were useless against a Kunoichi, even if she only had limited access to her chakra.

'_Stupid teme's been allowing her to access more and more of it every day. Never underestimate the enemy, teme.'_

Naruto stared at the pinkette as she rolled over, her eyes widening at the sight of him. She didn't see through the transformation, did she?

"Sasuke…" She looked disturbed.

Oh right, he was supposed to be training right now, and to her it just looked like he'd come back early.

"Sakura," Naruto responded with her name and she frowned.

'_Crap, that's not how teme says her name.'_

He supposed his friend never laced her name with a hint of disgust. But he carried on with the charade anyway and motioned to her to stand up. Still confused, she did as she was told. Naruto was so very confused himself. She was _very_ compliant, so much so that with that response, Sasuke should have had her begging for death. What the hell was the matter with that idiot?

Naruto had an aversion to rape, it was true, and could never understand Sasuke's desire to dominate in that fashion – he'd hated it so strongly in fact that they'd argued over it enough. It might've meant the end of their friendship if either of them had anyone else to turn to.

He shook himself, steeling his emotions, remembering to put on the stoic face Sasuke was infamous for.

"Turn around," he said, trying to sound like she might enjoy what he had in mind.

Sakura was hesitant to comply with this particular order, suddenly wary. The way he was standing, the tone in his voice… something was off with him. She didn't see the kunai in his hand. Sakura was about to turn away from this peculiar version of Sasuke Uchiha when he grabbed her waist and pulled her toward him. Her instincts kicked in and she twisted around, her arm moving up to his free arm, which was already bringing the kunai down over her head.

"Sasuke…"

Sakura groaned and blocked the shot, but the force of his chakra on her was strong.

'_Kami I'm stupid!'_

It wasn't Sasuke's chakra. She'd felt his, and this wasn't it…

"Naruto?"

He was stunned, hearing his name pass over her lips and hesitated. That was all she needed. Summoning what little chakra she had access to (thanks to Sasuke), Sakura kneed him in the groin and fumbled for his kunai. He stumbled backward, reverting to the blonde _baka_, the transformation jutsu breaking, and she kicked out, taking advantage of his painful shock.

Naruto fell to the floor and she knocked him over the head with the butt of the kunai. She knew she should kill him for that, but something inside her was telling her to stay her hand. But this was what she was waiting for! The seal on this room wasn't in place anymore, and the only thing between her and freedom were the guards, who were like mindless robots.

Sasuke would have the forbidden scroll right now, but if she was to go out there, he would just capture her and drag her back in. Deciding, Sakura gripped the kunai tighter and flung open the door.

The guards shifted into sight suddenly and for a moment, Sakura hesitated, but there was no menace in their eyes; they were hollow shells, and blocking her path like stone statues. They attempted to grab her without activating their chakra, like the good little brainwashed soldiers they were. Sakura swung the kunai she'd stolen off of Naruto and swung it at them. They didn't flinch as the blade tore through their skin, and she felt sick, wondering if they were screaming silently.

She held back the tears, killing them quickly; it was mercy, she told herself. They were zombie-fied. They weren't even human anymore. What had Sasuke _done_ to them? Their blood was on her hands however, and she dropped the kunai in her shock, running past their bodies and toward where she knew the exit to be. Her footsteps echoed off the walls but she ignored how blatantly conspicuous she was being in her escape. No-one else was here… Sasuke had said so himself. Her unit was dead and she was all alone.

'_Sasuke…'_

Sakura felt the tears streaming down her face now, and didn't want to think about the part of her that _had_ actually given into his tender touches. She needed to get back to Konoha, to find Neji, not Sasuke, and have a _proper_ relationship that hadn't been instigated by rape.

Coming to the corridor she dimly remembered being the last one before the exit, she pushed on the heavy door at the end, groaning with the effort, and as the brightness of the sun dazzled her, a cool breeze gave her a rush of relief. She was finally free.

X X X

**A/N: Lovely. Gotta love a homicidal Naruto. ;)  
>This is the last chapter of arc 1. No guarantee arc 2 will go for 8 chapters, but I'm hoping, though its arc 3 that I'm looking forward to the most. <strong>Anyway, love and review. ^_^


	9. Racing Home

**Author's Notes:  
>Sorry for my unexplained absence. My only excuse is that despite the fact that I love Whispered Voices, I don't find it easy to write. Eh, my shrink's a lazy nutter. ;) <strong>

**And… I was in a weird mood while writing this chapter, so apologies for any creepiness. ^_^ Read, love, and review! :)**

–

Chapter Nine. Racing Home.

–

It hadn't been long since her disappearance. The world didn't end though, and with the shrine being mostly devoid of life, there was a sort of stillness in the air that came from lack of use. The stale, dry air was just a product of windows closing, doors slamming and the fact that the numerous corridors were unkempt. The occupants rarely stayed in one place more than a month, and the shrine was no exception. Also, there were only two permanent servants to keep the place habitable. They were drones really, experiments created by Orochimaru in concurrence with his twisted fascination for abducting innocent people and turning them into something as far from people as one could get.

But that hardly mattered now. Another stench had permeated the shrine – that of death. It wasn't like this place had never witnessed such a thing, but the blood of people who were not people anymore was different. A ringing sound echoed throughout the underground complex, alerting the only conscious person in the vicinity to what had recently transpired.

"Naruto!" Sasuke Uchiha's scream seemed to rock the shrine.

Naruto Uzumaki stirred, the irate voice echoing in his head and he shuddered involuntarily, as though sensing the berating that was coming his way. It wasn't like Sasuke would ever _kill_ him, but sometimes that thread that connected them – they called it friendship, but sometimes he wondered – was too thin to bear the brunt of a betrayal. Sasuke wasn't innocent in his treatment of Naruto, having screwed up his plans in the past due to his temper or simply not caring to take the extra effort to appease his so-called friend. But still…

Naruto jumped to his feet, took one last look at the bodies of the drones outside Sasuke's quarters and bolted down the corridor. He could berate and curse himself until the cows came home, but it wouldn't change anything. He blamed the leaf Kunoichi, teme, the Kyuubi and the world… for _everything_. He worried what his friend was going to say or do to him. The bitch of the thing was he knew it was his fault and actually _felt_ guilty over his carelessness. But Naruto knew that keeping a leaf ninja here was trouble. She wasn't as compliant as Sasuke thought she was. She had to have been planning and plotting, and possibly scheming… she wasn't going to stay willingly. Sasuke _had_ to know that right?

The shrill alarm that went off when someone other than Naruto or Sasuke opened the hatch-like door that served as the most direct exit was making his eye twitch – it always did that. They tested the alarm at least once every time they came here and it _always_ made his eye tic. If he actually were some kind of fox, like the Kyuubi, it would explain things, as the alarm also set off a subsonic pulse. Sasuke had wanted it that way, but wouldn't explain _why_. Naruto hated secrets.

He stopped walking.

The raven haired man he'd been worrying about was striding toward him.

Now, it wasn't like Naruto was afraid of Sasuke. He just knew what he was capable of and had never seen him _this_ angry before. His features were twisted with disdain and without realising it, his chakra was flailing wildly about his extremities, as though with a life of its own.

"Naruto," Sasuke said, his voice now oddly _calm_. "What did you do?"

The blonde had the decency at least to look ashamed. "I'm sorry Sasuke, she… she got away."

He didn't strike Naruto. He would never do that. But Sasuke couldn't control the rush of chakra to his hands – the Chidori flowed freely, crackling around him as he screamed in blind fury. Naruto remained untouched, watching as the shrine crumbled around them, shocked. A moment later, he dashed for freedom before the entire complex could bury him and said nothing as his possessed friend tore out, into the forest, racing after his pink haired quarry.

–XXX–

Sasuke Uchiha was not aware that Sakura Haruno was a tracking ninja. She knew how to track, mislead, and effectively hide from the enemy. She just hoped it was enough to evade _him_. She had no illusions that he would discover her disappearance and soon be hot on her heels. She just needed to keep him from finding her before she can make it back to Konoha – not an easy feet, but she wasn't going to push herself to out run him, especially with only limited access to her chakra. No, she had to outsmart him, and use the fact that he didn't know the extent of her skills to stay off his radar.

Sakura burst into a clearing, shivering, and unable to see through her hazy vision. She wasn't bleeding out, but the forest had attempted to thwart her, scratching clinging and tripping her as she went. What little chakra she could use, she needed to save, so she kept away from tree branches and ran as fast as she could along the ground. Weaving between trees and jumping over exposed roots, she kept her senses primed for the inevitable feel of an angry chakra signature that would be headed her way. Sasuke was on her heels, she _knew_ it. But hopefully, her mode of transportation (barely faster than a civilian, really) would make her inconspicuous to that Sharingan eye of his and he wouldn't find her.

As a tracking ninja, she knew to look for blinds – hiding places out of plain view, regardless of how close the enemy was – in order to find rogue ninja they were hunting who had taken refuge, hoping the tracking squads would pass them by. It was an old trick, not taught at the academy: hunters used it all the time to gain the advantage on their prey. She would stay downwind, find a hiding spot, and pray that when he did pass her, her chakra didn't alert him to her presence.

She knew how to cloak it, but she had no idea just how good the Sharingan really was.

Sakura kept moving, as fast as she could, and for as long as her body could handle. She was too weak to go much further at this pace, but it couldn't be helped – she had to _try_. She was grateful however, when she spotted a small river half an hour later, with a blind around a small cliff face. Going with the assumption that Sasuke would believe she'd be in a hurry to get to Konoha and therefore sacrifice safety for speed, she slipped into the small opening she'd spotted, aware that it was barely large enough to accommodate her size. It was _very_ cold as well, which suited her well enough, as it was lowering her body temperature. This would make it easier for her to blend in to her surroundings and hopefully avoid that Sharingan. She had little to no idea how the Sharingan worked, having been able to get out of Kakashi Hatake that it copied jutsus, altered perceptions of the enemy and could bend the fabric of space and time.

But really, _that_ explanation didn't help her at all right now.

'_Typical, Kakashi Sensei.'_

She shivered, rubbing her extremities for warmth before remembering that she was using the cold of this small opening to hide herself. She just hoped she didn't freeze to death first. She peered out of the small opening (it was sort of like a cave so small that only one person could fit inside of it, but a dead-end one) when she heard a strange sound. There were animals nearby, but this was lighter, more subtle. And a moment later, she _felt_ the familiar chakra.

Sakura ducked her head back into the blind instinctively, trying to control her heartbeat as it pounded in her ears. She might've had a heart attack in those moments, maybe, but would not have noticed. Fear increased her anxiety and froze her body in place. She no longer cared if she turned into some human popsicle, or if she became food for wild animals. She just didn't want Sasuke Uchiha to find her. She closed her eyes, listening to her heartbeat and focusing on keeping her chakra hidden. He was nearby – she could _feel_ his presence. A chakra that powerful was unmistakable. He wasn't even trying to hide it. She wondered just how angry he was, and whether or not he'd _really_ thought through following her.

She resisted the urge to sigh, to make any sound or any movement, in the paranoid thought that he'd hear her, even if he wasn't in range. It wouldn't do to alert him to her position after all the effort she'd put into getting away in the first place.

'_I have to ask Kakashi Sensei __exactly__ how the Sharingan works the next time I see him.'_

Thoughts of home pervaded her psyche, reflections of a brown haired man; his touch, his scent and his ever present warmth overwhelmed her memory. It was all she could do to keep from moaning. Sakura was holding on by a thread, her anxiety and frustration coalescing. She was so desperate to get out of this tiny excuse for a hiding spot, to just run home from here and hope Sasuke didn't see her. But that was stupid. She was stupid for entertaining the idea.

Sakura let out a breath she didn't know she was holding when the familiar chakra signature of Sasuke Uchiha all but disappeared. She didn't want it to go away completely – how else would she know where not to venture? She wasted no more time, leaving her blind spot and emerging from around the cliff face, shaking so badly she looked like she'd just emerged from a freezer.

Sakura moved slowly at first, just trying to get the feeling back into her extremities, but then started running. Sasuke's signature was too far away for him to sense her if she resorted to using a little chakra, so she warmed up her body by pushing chakra into her feet and darting between trees like the ninja she was, instead of the prey. She hated the feeling of being followed and hunted. It gave her aggressive thoughts and tendencies.

About ten minutes later, while keeping her eyes forward and searching for signs that only an experienced tracker would notice, Sakura found what she was looking for. She jumped down from the tree branch she'd landed on and examined the bark of the wood in front of her. She ran a hand over the jagged carving on the ridges of the bark. Without a preconceived image of what to look for, no-one would recognise this sign but her. A good tracker unit (or at least one that worked together more than once) had prearranged agreements on signs or symbols to use in case they got separated and needed to find each other without alerting the enemy first. The carving under her fingers was an Inuzuka symbol that Okanu had altered and taught to both her and Takaru for just this type of situation. The thought that they were still out here, searching for her, brought a sudden onslaught of tears to her eyes and she pulled her fingers away from the mark, looking around for more.

It was all well and good to leave the signs, but they had to actually point her in the right direction. Finding another identical symbol, she took off again, this time at ground level, one eye on the trail she was following and the other on her surroundings. The easiest times for the more basic types of hunts were morning and late afternoon, and right now, the sun was tinting the forest in its last moments of life. The day was almost over and she needed to find her friends before Sasuke found her.

The increase in chakra around her drew Sakura's attention and she let out an involuntary yelp, pushing herself faster. Sasuke was closer than before and moving faster than her. She heard a strange mini-explosion in the distance and suddenly, she could feel him… he was coming straight for her!

Sakura ran faster than she ever had in her life; her body weary, yet untiring as she pushed past tree branches and heard only the heavy beating of her heart in her ears. He was getting closer, she could _feel_ it – Sasuke was less than five minutes behind her, having realised she'd hidden out of sight, he was doubling back to cut off her escape. But unfortunately for him, she knew exactly where she was going.

–XXX–

They had come out here periodically over the last few weeks, marking areas where they had last found Sakura's trail, along with the spots that Kabuto had been prowling in, hoping that Sakura would find them. Of course, first she'd have to be out here to see them, but this was the only thing they could do now. No-one knew her tracking skills better than them, no-one but them had seen firsthand just how adept she was at reading signs in the forest that others would miss – these markings were for her eyes only.

And in this seemingly futile effort to give her a way home, it gave _them_ hope. Fool's hope, but hope nonetheless.

Takaru Hyuuga was a member of the Bunke **[**_*****_**]** of the Hyuuga clan and as such not privy to the depths of the secrets held by the clan leader and elders. But he considered himself lucky to have been born after that amendment to the old law that side branch members were to be branded with the caged bird seal. It was a cursed seal; a type of _juin_ through which a higher ranked member of the Hyuuga clan could control a branded member through intolerable pain. It was slavery.

He was no-one's slave.

Takaru Hyuuga and Okanu Inuzuka were not always alone when they came out here to leave markings that only Sakura Haruno would notice – people came and went when they weren't on missions and Takaru's cousin, Neji Hyuuga, was the always the last to leave after every trip. Well, they were more like sixth cousins, but whatever. Everyone knew he was involved with Sakura, and it was the only reason no-one complained when he stayed out longer than necessary. It was more of a waiting game than anything else now.

It had been weeks since he'd seen Sakura Haruno and remembering every time he'd brought up relationships and personal lives into the conversations in their squad always made him think of his clan. There were always rumours of her history with Neji, as well as how close she was with Hinata and Hanabi. She'd spent a lot of time in the Hyuuga complex, and Takaru had actually met her there.

Shaking himself, Takaru looked around. He was in a clearing, quite a distance from Konoha, and stoking the fire he'd started in order to cook some rabbit he'd caught. Okanu Inuzuka was his only companion, going on about how he'd been promised a new pup within the next six months and was just waiting on a new litter of pups. He was excited about it, which overrode his normally listless voice. To anyone who didn't know the redhead, he didn't seem to be paying attention to his surroundings, just whittling the wood in his hand. He was making a totem in the hope that his dream would soon be a reality – it wasn't really expected in his clan, to make one, but he felt the need. Okanu had started it the day Sakura went missing, but only returned to it occasionally, which was why it still wasn't finished. But he was nearing the end of it now.

"Be quiet," Takaru said, raising his hand to silence his friend. He activated his Byakugan, turning his head slightly to accommodate his blind spot and his eyes widened. "Someone's coming this way."

Okanu stood up swiftly, dousing the camp fire and moved into position. "Who is it?"

"Not sure. Their chakra is too weak."

Their pinkette team mate crashed into the clearing her eyes wild and glazed as she didn't recognise them at first. She was terrified, shaking and bleeding – Okanu could smell the blood on her.

"Sakura?" Takaru murmured, moving toward her with lightning speed. She groaned, falling forward into the arms of her Hyuuga friend and team mate, now unconscious. A high pitched scream nearby had the men exchanging worried glances.

"Reverse summons," Takaru snapped, and Okanu hastened to comply. They grabbed their belongings and the Hyuuga stiffened at the oncoming chakra signature. It wasn't just massive, but also creepily familiar. "Now!"

Sasuke Uchiha burst into the clearing, his eyes locking with the younger of the two tracker ninja, but before he could pull him into a jutsu, the three figures in front of him glowed, shimmered, and then disappeared.

Sakura had gotten away.

–XXX–

**A/N: I'm exhausted. Seriously, it wipes me out in every sense of the phrase. :)  
>Anyway, I'm currently writing 3 multichapter stories at the same time and they don't get along with each other in my head. So yeah, the updates are all over the place. ;)<br>**

**[**_*****_**]**_ Bunke is, as far as I know, a term for the side branch members of the Hyuuga. Or their domicile, but I'm going for the former. ;)_


	10. Uneasy Silence

**Author's Notes****: This is an early update. I wasn't going to look at this chapter for at least another week, but it's been raining all day today, and that always either makes me lazy or more focused than normal… weird. ;)  
>Anyway, NejiSaku has been very strong on the brain lately, so it's picking up now: to mine eyes at least. I love the rain... ;P<strong>

–

Chapter Ten. Uneasy Silence.

–

There was a shift change at the hospital, moving most of the nurses and doctors currently on duty. In a Shinobi village, this wasn't questioned, as it would be in a civilian one: there were often times when an incoming patient was a V.I.P, a prisoner of war, or anything else the lower echelon wasn't supposed to know about. The early rotation could also be triggered by the arrival of a fellow medic ninja or an elite nin who was used to being treated by a specific doctor – one such example was Kakashi Hatake, who refused to be treated by anyone but Sakura Haruno or Lady Tsunade herself. Once, he'd let Shizune Kato take his temperature, but that was it. His insistence had only gotten worse over the years.

Currently, the hospital was abuzz with rumours as to who had just been admitted into the emergency ward, especially once Lady Tsunade arrived and barked at anyone who came too close, only allowing Shizune and the head nurse into the room. Takaru Hyuuga and Okanu Inuzuka had shunshined directly in front of the guards at Konoha's gate, with their unconscious team mate, and then into the hospital. The place was quiet this time of morning, so only an orderly and the part-time girl at reception saw the pink hair.

Waiting impatiently outside Sakura's room, Okanu was getting frustrated with Takaru's frustration. The Hyuuga was pacing, acting _very_ un-Hyuuga like as usual, annoyed that the examination had been taking over an hour, annoyed that inquiries had led him to realise his team mate was in worse condition than she'd first appeared and pissed off when Hinata Hyuuga ran through the hospital, intent on seeing her friend – this meant the word was out.

At first, he didn't quite understand why he was angry that people knew Sakura was back. Okanu however, knew immediately: the rumour-ville the past four weeks had made it impossible for anyone close to Sakura to walk the streets of Konoha without drawing the attention of gossipers, pitying looks, and behind-the-hand whispering from complete strangers. He was also annoyed that people did this when it came to the Hokage's apprentice, like they had nothing better to do. Last week, a new Genin team had been brutally slaughtered on the battlefield – which included a Hyuuga in its ranks – and there was no strangely sympathetic looks directed at the people closest to _them_.

He just wanted his team mate to make her full recovery so that everything could go back to normal.

"It was Aoba," Hinata said, startling her distant cousin.

She had heard the news from Kotetsu Hagane, but Aoba Yamashiro was the one going around, telling everyone he could. Sitting next to Okanu and staring at the door to the room Sakura had been moved to without looking at Takaru, she continued.

"And pacing will only lead to violence, so _please_ just sit down."

"How can you be so calm?" He asked, blocking her view of the room. "That's your best friend in there."

"I'm sure she's aware of that," Takaru said pleasantly. "But Hinata's not an idiot – panicking serves no purpose. Sit down and shut up, will you?"

"Is anyone else coming to visit her?" Hinata asked, once her cousin had moved out of her way.

"Not that I know of," Takaru said, "but I'm sure it won't be much longer."

And the next hour _did_ see people coming and going, hoping to find out if Sakura was okay – Hinata indulged those she knew that were more concerned for Sakura than the rumour-ville. Shikamaru was dragged into the hospital by his team mates, leaving all too happily when no news was apparent – but they did leave their best wishes. Shino and Kiba were out on a mission with Akamaru that Hinata had gotten out of because of Kurenai – they hadn't been a team for long, in the days following Sakura's personal training from Kakashi Hatake, but she was sure they would visit her friend. Speaking of Kakashi, he had yet to arrive, but that wasn't a surprise: more than likely, he was waiting for Sakura to be discharged, so he didn't have to visit the hospital.

When Tsunade did finally emerge from Sakura's room, it was only Hinata, Takaru and Okanu waiting outside.

"She's still asleep," the Hokage told them, "but you can come in and keep her company if you wish."

"She's going to be okay?" Hinata asked, jumping to her feet.

"She's going to be okay."

Hinata darted into the room, where Shizune was double checking Sakura's chart. Okanu and Takaru followed Hinata in, and Tsunade didn't take her eyes off of her student as Sakura's best friend sat down next to the pinkette.

"She's really real," Hinata said, clasping her friend's hand in hers. "She's really here."

And just like that, she struggled not to burst into tears. Kurenai had taught them not to be afraid to shed tears off of the battlefield. In battle, a ninja had to cut off their emotions and do what they had to do, but they were still human, and Hinata understood her shishou's reasoning behind reminding them not to let the rules dictate them all the time.

Tsunade motioned to Shizune. "We'll leave you alone."

–XXX–

They were exhausted – well, Neji and Tenten were, while Gai and Lee were hiding it better, under layers of their usual aphorisms. They'd been in the land of waves weeks ago, their mission a bust as the man they'd been sent to investigate wasn't a ninja at all, but rather a political figurehead. Recently, information had been passed that he was a figurehead _for_ a ninja. It was one thing after another until a paid informant finally managed to get the name Takito Umanashi from a contact. They had nothing else to do, as this Takito wasn't in the land of waves anymore, so had unanimously agreed to return to Konoha.

The name was at least, more than they had had before this wild goose chase.

And as usual upon returning to the leaf, Neji's first thoughts went to Sakura – he hadn't stopped thinking about her of course, but stepping past the gates, he was flooded with the same _feeling_ he always got. He wasn't sure how to describe it other than a mix between hope and an _impression_ of her familiar presence.

"Neji!" Izumo stood up as Team Gai approached the check-in station. He stared into those silver/lavender eyes and smiled. "She's back."

Neji stared at him, his eyes drifting to an equally excited Kotetsu, and understood immediately. Without so much as a word, he shunshined away from his squad. In the wake of his departure, Gai entered a soliloquy on youth and love, while Lee echoed every word. Tenten stared at the spot where her crush had disappeared, feeling guilty: she was happy that Sakura was back, but a part of her was desperately jealous. She couldn't say or do anything about it and she felt like crying, deciding also to flicker out of sight, not wanting her team mates to see the tears that were forming in her eyes.

Neji reappeared in front of the hospital, his eyes raking the building as he walked in, not hesitating. The first thing he noticed was the groups of workers talking in whispers, and then the receptionist looking like someone had just killed her cat. She didn't smile as he approached, not acknowledging his existence at all. It was incredibly annoying.

But Neji took advantage of it anyway and left the reception, heading toward the emergency ward. He could _feel_ her now, acutely familiar with her chakra from their time spent together, and noticing the ninja warden outside her door, he moved away from the hallway. He approached from the other direction, keeping his chakra hidden and his movements even. The guard didn't notice him – they weren't ANBU.

But eavesdropping on Sakura Haruno and her current visitor wasn't turning out as smoothly as he'd hoped. He didn't want to stand outside her room and argue with the guard about whether or not he was allowed in, but he didn't want to hear his cousin's voice reaffirm a suspicion he'd shared with her only days after discovering that it was Sasuke Uchiha who had kidnapped her.

"He r-raped you?" Hinata was sitting on the edge of Sakura's bed, letting the shock register heavily on her features.

Sakura nodded, staring at her entwined fingers.

"I'm so sorry Sakura," the Hyuuga hugged her tightly before pulling away. "Does Tsunade know?"

Sakura groaned. "Yes, and she's in a meeting right now to hunt down both the Uchiha and Naruto and have them killed."

"You think it's too dangerous," Hinata said knowingly.

"They'll have moved out of the shrine and wherever they've gone now will be just as protected – he has the Sharingan. Whatever genjutsu he's weaved will be impossible to break, and even if someone _does_ find out where they are, Sasuke will just kill them, like he did to my squad." Sakura scrunched up the bed sheet, annoyed. "Anyone she sends is just going to get themselves killed."

The silence filled quickly between them as Sakura's thoughts lingered on how to convince Tsunade not to send groups of ninja into the lion's den and Hinata wondered what to tell Neji when he came back, about Sasuke. He would find out eventually, so perhaps it was best that Sakura told him herself.

Sakura broke the silence. "I need to know how long I've been gone for."

"You don't know?"

"No."

Hinata bit her bottom lip thoughtfully. It felt to her like she hadn't seen Sakura in months, the time spent looking for her had not gone wasted, considering how Okanu and Takaru had found her – they were currently out, trying to track down the elusive Kakashi, not willing to leave it to him to visit his ex-student on his own time. Hinata had sent them away so she could talk to Sakura alone, which made the search for Kakashi a mere excuse. She hated that her best friend had been raped, held against her will, and from the sounds of it, Sasuke was obsessed with her… he was definitely not one to give up this easily, and Tsunade was sure he would be coming for her, hence the meeting she called with the council and elders.

"How long?" Sakura asked, breaking through her friend's internal musings.

"Four and a half weeks," Hinata said. "Thirty-one days exactly."

'_The longest month possible.'_

It felt like longer – Sakura distinctly remembered her time of the month coming twice: had excessive stress been the cause for that? Nothing made sense to her right now, but at least she was home. She was safe.

"Neji's team is due back soon," Hinata added, knowing her friend was excited at the prospect of seeing him again. "I'll make sure he comes to see you."

"Thank you Hinata – you're a real friend."

Hinata smiled, kissed her forehead and pulled away, realising they weren't alone. But Sakura had drifted off peacefully, and her cousin would have to wait. "Sweet dreams."

Leaving Sakura's private room, Hinata stopped to stare at Neji. "You heard all of that?"

He nodded silently and she sighed, squeezing his hand before leaving. "I'm so sorry cousin."

–XXX–

Neji hovered around Sakura's bed, the guard having disappeared when Hinata left (her doing no doubt), just staring at her sleeping form. She looked so peaceful, so beautiful; he already knew however, what she looked like sleeping, not to mention her morning temperament and how long it took to get her out of bed when she had somewhere important to be and all she wanted to do was fool around.

He brushed hair out of her face, thinking about what he'd overheard. There were very few times in his life when he'd felt _this_ angry; Sasuke had violated her and if the profile on him in his short stint in ANBU was right, he was stubborn and possessive of everything and everyone he thought he owned. That _man_ would be coming for her, and Neji for one, would welcome him walking into the heart of the battlefield only to be the one to make him fall. It would be more than he deserved for what he'd done.

And Naruto Uzumaki?

He wasn't sure what to think of _him_. The new generation of Jounin were told that the Kyuubi container had gone rogue, but like his cousin, Neji wondered _why_ Naruto had left. People thought of Naruto as nothing more than the beast inside now, but he hadn't attacked – he hadn't let it out to destroy those who'd wronged him.

Why?

He remembered Naruto from the Chunin exams years ago, how he'd knocked some sense into him… so how had he turned so drastically? He had had a rough childhood, but seemed to be putting that behind him in his quest to be the strongest ninja Konoha had ever seen. There was something else going on, and Neji had the feeling that forces beyond his understanding were gathering against them. It didn't sit well with him: he liked everything in its proper place, and organised so he never got confused.

It was childish yes, but he couldn't help it.

Neji bent over to kiss Sakura on her forehead and she shifted slightly in her sleep, as though sensing him. He smiled and shunshined out of her room. It was going to be a long visit, the one he planned to have with her, so he decided to wait until she was discharged from the hospital.

He spent the rest of the day in a haze, and once Hinata informed him that Sakura was allowed to go home, he made his way over to her apartment, intending on waiting for her. But she beat him there, and had been there for over an hour.

Neji stood, terrified and hopeful at what was awaiting him in Sakura's apartment. He still couldn't process the thought that she'd been raped. It wasn't exactly an unprecedented outcome with imprisonment scenarios, but nor was it common for a Kunoichi to be captured solely for that purpose, let alone at all. A ninja fought to the death, and a Shinobi with any sense of decency would not take advantage of a woman like that, even an enemy. It was unconscionable.

Neji wallowed in indecision, his chakra masked as it always was when hiding from his exuberant team mates, and he fingered the wood of the door in front of him. He contemplated turning away, but it was only momentary – he _needed_ to see her, to talk to her and hold her. He hoped she wouldn't push him away.

Swallowing heavily, he shifted his chakra, allowing it to oscillate just enough to allow Sakura to realise who he was, and knocked on her door.

–XXX–

**A/N This 2****nd**** arc is going to be a little more on the drama side where genres are concerned, but there is still room for some serious ass kicking. You'll know what I mean when the time comes. We're just getting started after all. ;) **


	11. Reminiscing

**Author's Notes****:  
>Just like last time, I got carried away and finished this earlier than expected. I don't really have a proper timetable for when this fic is going to be finished (no reference to the number of chapters – THAT, I know), so right now, I'm just updating as it wrangles my attention from whatever else I was SUPPOSED to be doing.<br>This chapter is a little different, but good… ^_^**

–

Chapter Eleven. Reminiscing.

–

The world was spinning as she tried to make her way over to the bathroom. The medication was supposed to help her body recover her chakra faster, but she was starting to wish she'd agreed to the natural option. She steadied herself against the doorframe, feeling slightly better for the support, but the next moment, Sakura was stumbling toward the toilet in a panicked frenzy.

She threw up.

It was disgusting.

But she let it happen, and a few minutes later, the haze in her head began to clear, sharpening her vision but not her balance. So she decided to ditch the medication – Sakura forced herself to throw up a few more times until she was sure it was out of her system.

'_I'm never doing that again.'_

And she was going to go over that so called "medication" once she got better and nag Tsunade until she made it less invasive, not to mention disgusting. She didn't know what the woman was thinking, just handing that shit around the hospital. It took her half an hour to have a shower (and she didn't even wash her hair) and then a further fifteen minutes just to get dressed. But by the end of it she was feeling remarkably better, and was suddenly hungry.

Sakura thought about her friends as she made some ramen – just enough to settle her stomach, as she really wanted to grab Hinata and find a decent restaurant (her supplies were rather low). Apparently, Neji had been seen in the hospital shortly after his team's return and it excited her to think she would be seeing him again soon.

'_But first things first – food!'_

Once she'd downed the excess from her small meal, Sakura felt a wave of nausea and grumbled, finding the couch again – so much for her good mood. She groaned, laying back, and couldn't stop her mind from wandering to Sasuke… to what he'd done to her. She hated that she missed him, that a part of her was sorry for leaving. If nothing else, she was definitely an idiot for worrying about that. It was only natural, since he'd held her against her will, but showed her kindness… she didn't want to admit that she'd grown attached to him, in _any_ way.

She shivered at the sudden image of his rage from her escape. There was no going back. She had Hinata, Kurenai… and Neji.

Sakura wiped away a tear as she sensed Neji's chakra at her apartment door; he knocked a moment later and she inhaled deeply, steadying herself as she climbed shakily to her feet. The wooziness had subsided and she opened the door to her apartment. The Hyuuga's pale eyes raked over her as though he could barely believe she was standing in front of him and Sakura realised in that moment, from the look on his face and the way he shifted slightly that he had been worried about her.

'_Please tell me you love me Neji.'_

She needed the kind of comfort right now that wasn't coming from a psycho looking to destroy her village.

"May I come in?" He asked politely.

Sakura nodded, and moved out of the way. Closing the door, she took in his appearance. He was wearing more traditional ninja clothes, with only the emblem of the Hyuuga clan sewn into his uniform to indicate his status in the clan. His long brown hair was tied back in his usual low ponytail.

"Neji," Sakura said softly.

She didn't know how to tell him how glad she was to see him. It felt for her, like she hadn't seen this beautiful man in months. The pinkette smiled at him however, and offered him something to drink. He politely declined and continued to stare at her, also thinking on the best thing to say what he was thinking. He was scared she didn't want him, that her time with the Uchiha had made her not want anyone. After overhearing her talking with Hinata that Sasuke had raped her and she'd used his growing obsession of her to get him to let his guard down enough for her to escape, he wanted more than ever just to hold her.

But a nagging voice in the back of his head wondered: did she hate men now? He could hardly believe that someone as strong and beautiful as her would let one man ruin them all for her, but he had to satisfy this need to make sure she wasn't swearing off of men altogether. After all, he still wanted to try to pursue a future with her, _if_ she was willing that is.

"I missed you," he admitted softly. _'I missed you intolerably.'_

Sakura's eyes widened slightly and her heart started racing. He'd missed her! Half in shock, she didn't say anything. Instead, she moved slowly toward him, reaching out her hands to slide her arms over his shoulders and lift herself up to his height.

Neji took the hint and rested his hands on her hips as he lowered his lips to hers, testing her reaction. He was so worried that she didn't want him anymore, so terrified that she would push him away, that when she moaned into his mouth he was slightly startled.

Sakura seemed to be reading his mind when she spoke into his mouth, not pulling away. "I _do_ want you Neji Hyuuga."

She licked his mouth, and slid her tongue in as his lips parted. She pulled his head down toward her as she reached her body up to meet his, hungrily kissing him now. Neji responded in kind, his head spinning before reminding himself that this wasn't an unfamiliar sensation. Sakura tasted like vanilla and strawberries, just like he remembered.

–XXX–

There was no reason not to overdo it on defence. Ibiki Morino had never been one to hold back in that regard – he saw the opportunity to incorporate some of his own ideas into the intended Sensing System Technique Barrier being set up by Inoichi and Ao: they were surprised but welcomed his input. Sometimes Ibiki felt like a chastised child around those two.

He didn't need any more grief from the Hyuuga, not with the Hokage glaring at him.

"And just what were you thinking?" Tsunade snapped at him.

He shrugged. "It seemed like a good idea at the time Hokage-sama."

And really, it was Shizune's fault.

If veins could pop right out from under the skin, Tsunade's would've burst a long time ago. He watched as her face transformed from annoyed to shamelessly pissed off. Then he waited as his words lost their impact and she started to ease off on the bull-like features. It was more hilarious than he was willing to let on.

Tsunade was just venting after her meeting with the elders – they were royally angry that she'd not only sent the forbidden scroll of the Uchiha out of Konoha, but it had been stolen by none other than Sasuke… They admitted her reasoning for it wasn't entirely baseless. There had been a spy in Konoha, and one with working knowledge of the Uchiha – she still had trouble believing that imp of a man Kabuto Yakushi knew anything about that clan. The timing was off, her judgement was poor… and apparently, the loss of the squad (not to mention the imprisonment and torment of Sakura) was the last straw.

'_Like they've never done anything someone else considered stupid, or that had completely blown up in their shrivelled up faces.'_

She'd sent out tracker ninja to look for Sasuke and Naruto's trail – so far, there'd been no word from them, but it was still early on that front. It really was looking like they'd disappeared without a trace – Sakura had a basic idea of the area where the shrine was (stupid name for a hideout, really), but it wasn't helping in their effort to find it. That blasted Sharingan probably hid it better than any genjutsu a tracking squad could ever muster.

So with that thought, Tsunade decided to give Ibiki a break.

"Where is Inoichi?" Tsunade asked grumpily.

"Working on the barrier," Ibiki said, glad that she'd at least decided not to pummel him. She was still scaring him though – those eyes promised punishment.

"Lady Tsunade?" The voice of the Hokage's receptionist drew her attention (Shizune was at the medical core, doing some routine inspections on the hospital).

"Yes?"

"There are some–"

"Stop wasting my time and let them in," Tsunade said, having sensed the multiple chakras.

Kiba Inuzuka, Hinata Hyuuga, Shino Aburame, Ino Yamanaka, Shikamaru Nara, and Choji Akimichi entered Tsunade's office. The Hokage was half expecting Team Guy to follow them in. It was kind of disheartening when Choji closed the door behind himself.

"We wanted to know if it was true," Ino said, always the one who seemed to take charge. "About Naruto and Sasuke?"

Tsunade nodded her head and sighed. "It's true."

Ibiki gave her an incredulous look for being so open with them, but she just ignored him. They all remembered those two from the Chunin exams, not to mention the academy, and it had been a source of despondency for them over the years.

"Damn," Kiba said, patting Akamaru absentmindedly. "I don't think I can even remember what they looked like."

"Naruto's blonde," Hinata said softly.

"And Sasuke's hair was dark," Ino added. "Kind of midnight black and–"

"Yeah, yeah," Kiba waved a hand at her. "Stupid fan girls."

She growled at him, ignoring the fact that the Hokage was narrowing her eyes at them. "Take that back! I am _not_ a rampaging, hormone driven cow!"

Ibiki chuckled, drawing attention to himself, and then fell silent as the rest of them reminisced on what they could remember about Sasuke Uchiha and Naruto Uzumaki. He knew they were aware that when the time came they had to treat them as enemy combatants, but it was nice every now and then to remember the good things about them.

He stayed for the half an hour it took for Tsunade to finally manage to kick them all out.

"You're leaving too Ibiki," she said, thumbing at the door.

Relieved she had decided not to reprimand him, he turned to leave her office, but hesitated as she added a condition to her forgiveness for earlier.

"And Ibiki?" Tsunade said, her tone threatening. "Don't steal my sake… ever… again."

–XXX–

After that heated make out session, Sakura and Neji had _talked_. She would never have guessed that he could talk _this_ much. But the more she told him how much she missed him, and how the memory of their night together all those months ago had helped her to focus on getting away from the Shrine, the more he told her the same. He could barely get through his missions and was surprised at himself when he _let_ Lee and Gai talk him into one of their ridiculous training games – it involved those stupid self imposed rules and a healthy amount of _restraint_ on his part.

Sakura found that funny, and before either of them knew it, they were making out again.

It took them a few minutes to decide to move this to her bedroom, and Sakura broke the kiss to suggest it. Without waiting for a response, she moved away from the momentarily disappointed Hyuuga and started to run from him once he'd come to his senses and stood to chase her.

Sakura giggled, landing on her bed and unable to move the next instant as Neji climbed on top of her.

"Eager much?" She teased, and pulled his face down to kiss him.

She pushed all thoughts of Sasuke out of her head, all concerns that he wasn't going to let go of her so easily, and just enjoyed the warmth of the toned body pressing down on her. Perhaps it was just hormones, or adrenaline, but she wasn't looking to wait and take things slowly right now. In the morning however, she knew a part of her might be disappoint in herself for rushing this, but she didn't care – she _needed_ to feel him inside of her. After everything she'd been through, she deserved this much.

And Neji was more than willing – he explored her body as he undressed her and she shifted to give him better access to the hem of her shorts. He pulled it down in one swift move, taking his time with her underwear however; his fingers danced over her bare skin and Sakura moaned, loving every minute of it. She helped him out of his ninja clothes, pulling the tie out of his long hair, and moved toward the pillows, away from him teasingly.

Neji crawled over to her, the _desire_ in those pale eyes of his making her tremble with anticipation.

He covered her body with his, trapping her in his cage and kissed her. He ran his hand along her side, brushing her ever so softly as his mouth continued to explore her cavern. Despite the intensity of his kiss, he was still being so gentle, and Sakura found herself overwhelmed by the emotions building up inside of her. This was how it was supposed to be. This was how she was supposed to feel! She remembered it now: it all came crashing back. That night in her apartment, after their mission. She'd thought at first it had just been sexual tension, but it quickly became obvious that something more was going on and right here, right now, all the pinkette cared about was that she'd finally found it again.

Neji was reacquainting himself with her body, his mouth now following the same trail his hands had just taken; he didn't hesitate, drinking her in, and pushing her hand aside when she tried to return the favour. He wanted her to feel special, to make this one time at least, all about her. She deserved it after…

Sakura let out an involuntary whimper as Neji suddenly hesitated, his eyes finding hers – she was surprised by the concern in them. What was he so worried about?

"Are you sure?" He asked.

Sakura frowned at him. "Why wouldn't I be?"

He averted his eyes instantly, having remembering suddenly that he hadn't told her what he'd overheard between her and Hinata. She mistook his fear of her reaction for concern and cupped his face in her hands, locking eyes with him again.

"I love you Neji Hyuuga, and I want you, _now_."

He inhaled deeply, lowering his mouth to hers again, and wrapped his arms around her waist as she embraced his neck. He cradled her possessively, filling her quickly in the next moment; she threw her head back and cried out. Sakura closed her eyes for a mere instant, her body shuddering almost violently as it attempted to accommodate to his thickness. She'd forgotten just how sizeable he was. He filled every inch of her.

"Kami," she murmured, shifting underneath him. "_Fuck_…"

He chuckled, nuzzling her neck until her body jerked involuntarily. Neji started to move as her hips instinctively moved up to meet his: her lips parted and he tasted her, bringing her close to breaking point with each and every thrust of his hips. She ground him out and Neji's thoughts lingered on her scent before leaving his mind entirely.

She had that affect on him. He couldn't think: he could only _feel_.

He preferred the unhurried love making to the sex that was driven entirely by lust, but he couldn't help himself – he moved faster, giving into Sakura's nonsensical demands for more friction, and growled out her name in response to a guttural throaty moan that erupted from her. Sakura shook beneath him, and gripped tighter to his bare shoulders – her nails dug into him, drawing blood.

He spilled his seed into her soon thereafter, and Neji attributed the rush to the side of him that just seemed to let go of his inhibitions when alone with her. He fully intended on using the rest of the night to show Sakura just how much he loved her.

–XXX–

**A/N My first proper NejiSaku lemon… it's so special… I think I'm blushing lol. :)  
>But in all seriousness, it's the cause of my restraint on writing M rated NejiSaku one-shots before now – I wanted this one to be the first. Now I can rampage all I want, so watch out fanfiction. ;P Anyway, Sasuke and Naruto are back next time btw, and they've been busy the damn beavers. Can't wait! ;)<br>'Till next time, love, and review! ^_^**


	12. A Little Too Much Information

**Author's Notes****:  
>Soo… when my heavily pregnant sister came over to visit me yesterday, my cat (who used to be hers, btw), was so EXCITED that he spent the entire visit wanting to rub her belly instead of the other way around. SO cute! ;P Just wanted to share that. Enjoy. XD<strong>

–

Chapter Twelve. A Little Too Much Information.

–

The sun had gone down, the moon was out in full, and the nearby crickets had started their stridulation – loud and distracting, it was still not as annoying as the _other_ sound in the vicinity. Sasuke was growing tired of the incessant ranting from the blonde nearby, and couldn't seem to block Naruto's voice out, no matter how far away he moved from him. The baka was talking to the Kyuubi and sounded more insane than normal.

'_I don't care,'_ Sasuke thought to himself. _'I really don't.'_

The only thing that mattered to him was getting Sakura back – and destroying Konoha. It was funny how his priorities had changed, even though they didn't clash. He would have to enter Konoha to grab the pinkette, and for that, he needed _help_.

Sasuke glanced at his friend, watching his childish "inner" ranting in his peripherals. That idiot deserved to be dumped on the side of a road and left for dead… but he wasn't angry with Naruto anymore, not really (though he wasn't going to admit that to him any time soon). He was just furious at the whole situation, and at the _slow_ pace of his training. He had figured out that the forbidden scroll he'd taken from the pinkette reacted to his darker emotions. Madara was insanely motivated by revenge, and Sasuke couldn't deny his own parallels with the man.

But he was taking Takito Umanashi's advice and ignoring the strange Uchiha. He didn't trust a man who was clearly lying about his identity, let alone one who wanted him on his side but didn't offer anything he _really_ wanted… besides the destruction of Konoha. But he was putting stock in the Kyuubi (not Naruto) and was confident he could still convince the baka to transform in the centre of the leaf while _he_ used the scroll. Not that he knew what that damned thing did anyway.

Sasuke sighed inwardly, his thoughts drifting to the pinkette as his eyes surveyed the land of hot springs (they were waiting for a contact and anticipating the hunting down of Kabuto in order to find Orochimaru – they could never find him otherwise as he always approached them).

He closed his eyes now, letting the memories of his time with Sakura wash over his mind.

–

_Sasuke pulled her toward him, pressing her back against his growing erection. She stiffened slightly at this, but relaxed as he started to kiss the back of her neck. He could feel her tremble as his hands travelled down her body, toward her breasts; he nuzzled her neck from behind, now whispering lovingly to her. _

_He wanted to show her he was worthy, surprised at his own desire for her beyond sex. She would push him away at first, but had slowly begun to respond to him. _

_For a moment he thought she was crying, but dismissed it as her hands moved to his hips; reaching behind her body, the move made him pause, startled. But he soon resumed caressing her again, rubbing his hands over her breasts. He moved his right hand south after a few moments, used his foot to part her legs and slid his hand down to caress her._

_Sasuke held her tightly, raining kisses down on her neck as she trembled again. He was pressed against her back, holding her naked body to his and kneading her breasts with one hand, the other stroking her womanhood. _

_Sasuke whispered into her ear as she shifted compliantly. "You're mine… forever."_

_Her body stiffened again and he was sure she'd half sobbed this time. But he just continued to stroke her, eliciting involuntary moans and preparing her for the penetration she'd have to be completely idiotic not to think was coming._

_He lifted her easily, once his erection had grown to its full height, and lowered her onto him. She didn't resist as she felt herself tighten around him. He filled her, expanding her walls. She was becoming a part of him, her movements aided by the strength of the Shinobi underneath her. He pinched her nipples, rubbed the nub of her clitoris, and bit into her shoulder in a show of dominance._

_Once Sasuke had come into the pinkette, he pulled her backward, against his chest, wanting more. He then pushed her onto all fours, spread her legs again, and again, slid into her with no effort. Her walls clenched immediately and she groaned in pleasure. _

_She groaned again, swearing and half-screaming as he picked up the pace…_

–

The arrival of a familiar chakra signature startled Sasuke out of his reverie. He let out an involuntary groan, realising he'd succumbed to his memories, and his hand danced across, his body, twitching. He clasped the sword he'd strapped to his hip, wanting to kill _something_. It had been a pleasant memory, but still, he shouldn't have done that. This was no time to dwell. The only thing that mattered now was making new memories, and for that, he _needed_ to get into Konoha.

"Teme," Naruto said softly. "He's here."

He knew that – of course he knew it.

'_Stupid dobe.'_

The man they'd been waiting on was a lowly servant in the fire daimyo's household, but _this_ wasn't the connection that had caught Sasuke's attention. In the past, this man had only dealt with ninja who didn't support his master's goals, seeing himself as an architect of change and opportunity. But now he focused more on freelance, sneaking about wherever he could – the chance of more coin always motivated the greedy after all.

Sasuke didn't acknowledge the simple robed man, waiting for him to make the first attempt at conversation.

"Atsushi Hara?" Naruto asked, and the man nodded.

"You have my payment?" Atsushi asked.

Naruto glanced back at Sasuke, and then ducked behind the tree his friend was leaning against and returned a moment later with a money bag. The greedy, bald man stuck out his hand, but before Naruto could demand the information he'd promised, Sasuke drew his sword. The tip pressed into his throat, Atsushi let out a soft yelp of fear.

"Teme," Naruto snarled. "What are you doing?"

"Tell me," Sasuke said evenly, ignoring the blonde. "What information could a lowly servant have that's worth a bag of coins?"

"A n-ninja," Atsushi stammered. "A ninja was s-spotted in Otafuku Town, rough housing some civilian. He was looking for some rogues." He gulped. "I'm assuming it w-was y-you."

Sasuke smirked. "And what did he find out?"

"Nothing."

Sasuke frowned. The man was lying. He pressed the sword harder; a fleck of blood appeared along his throat, and as the Uchiha twisted the blade slowly, it dribbled out, like a child's drivel. Atsushi was braver than that front he'd put on, standing and bearing the pain; the sounds of pain however, could not be supressed.

"Teme," Naruto said. "I think his information is good."

Reluctantly, Sasuke removed his sword, but not before sending a particularly foul glare at the blonde. He might not still be angry with him about what happened at the Shrine, but Naruto was pushing his buttons all the same. He redirected his glare to Atsushi. "Well? And the truth this time – I'd hate to have to dirty my hands by having to bury your body."

"Y-yes." The servant took a shaky step backward. "A man told him of some nearby ninja fighting and he left to look for them – along the border to Wave Country, near the cliffs."

Naruto sighed. "Figures – snake boy had him looking for the Shrine again. We should be able to track the rat from there." He tossed the bag of coins to Atsushi. "For your own safety, I'd suggest not lying outright to paying customers from now on – not all of them are as forgiving as us."

The servant bowed, cast a nervous glance at the Uchiha, and then darted away. Sasuke had sensed that he'd activated his chakra ‒ had to be some kind of rogue training to deal with the dangers of his duplicitous side job. The man was weak though, and had clearly only survived because he knew how to find things, people and information more surreptitiously than most of ninja.

Naruto stared at Sasuke. "Are we together on this? I only ask because we can't afford for you to snap at me in the middle of a hunt because you're horny and don't want to visit the nearest tavern."

Sasuke glared at him. "Shut up."

"Seriously, I get it," Naruto said, raising his hands in mock surrender. "I only hope I'll find someone who distracts me and almost ruins years of hard work."

Sasuke's fingers twitched; the blonde wondered if his friend would ever act on his compulsion to throttle him. They'd never attacked each other to kill, only taking out their frustrations on each other via training or not-so-friendly "scuffles" (nothing potentially fatal). Still, the possibility that Sasuke might one day turn around and try to kill him was the only reason Naruto had never deliberately antagonised him – but while he'd seen him at his worst (riled up and _dangerous_), it had never been so easy to piss him off as it was since that pinky had escaped the Shrine.

Things changed when women were involved he supposed, and this pinkette had the Uchiha by the short hairs.

"My point is, _teme_," Naruto said, pulling a face at him. "Get your arse to a tavern, find some‒"

"_No_," Sasuke snapped. "I don't want anyone else."

"There are easier ways to get laid," Naruto mumbled. "Come on, let's get over to Otafuku Town, and hunt down that rabid parasite."

'_That ought to make him feel better.'_

Sasuke nodded. "Fine."

Otafuku Town was less than a day's travel, so they set up camp for the night, taking refuge from the coming frost in the air in a small cave. Sasuke barricaded the entrance before starting a fire – the cave was high, and out of the reach of most animals, but would draw attention from any ninja in the area if they weren't careful. He ignored Naruto's attempts to talk and "bond", dwelling instead on the month he'd spent with Sakura. Memories of carnal desires proved a blissful aid for slumber; a better sleep inducer than the snores of the blonde _baka_ only four feet away from him.

–XXX–

The next day found Sasuke Uchiha happier than he'd been since that annoying alarm in the Shrine had alerted him to his friend's stupidity. They picked up Kabuto's trail easily, since the idiot didn't know what he was searching for was hunting _him_. The man was an above average medic, a capable fighter and excellent spy – but he _sucked_ when it came to tracking or sensing pursuit.

He didn't care that Orochimaru had actually debated that fact with him – Sasuke saw him as pathetic.

Naruto rammed into the medic before Kabuto even knew he was there, breaking the silver haired ninja's right shoulder and slamming him into the nearest, thick oak tree. The Kyuubi gave him a burst of power and he dug his chakra claws into the man's thigh – Kabuto screamed out, falling to the ground and trying to grab at his attacker.

"Naruto," Sasuke scowled. "We need him alive."

The blonde wouldn't retract his claws. Kabuto was writhing now, his screams coming out in small, inconsistent bursts. But he was holding back; it was rare for someone experienced at causing pain to be so capable of enduring it. Sasuke was surprised. Pulling Naruto away from him, he allowed Kabuto to start healing himself, once his mind cleared enough to fully take in what had just happened, but stopped him before he could finish. Kabuto lowered his trembling hands to his side, obediently keeping them away from his wounds.

His breathing laboured, he looked up at them. "What was that for?"

Sasuke ignored the strained look from Naruto as he lifted the medic to his knees. "You're going to take us to Orochimaru."

Kabuto blinked heavily behind those spectacles, and then chuckled, a resigned sigh making his body slump. "All that just to speak with Lord Orochimaru? Sure, he'd be happy to know you want to see him."

Naruto growled, and mimed the words "why me, Kami?" at the sky as Sasuke removed the man's glasses, and rammed them into his wounded arm, eliciting another scream of pain. A long string of curses followed.

"There's nothing funny about this," Sasuke snarled, and tossed the medic to the ground. "Lead the way."

The blood loss had slowed him down, but he was still capable of staying on his feet once he did manage to stand. In the end, Naruto decided to carry him, and it took them almost two days (in which Sasuke refused to let Kabuto eat or drink anything) to find the hideout Orochimaru had seemingly built into the side of the broken border between fire country and the land of iron.

They knocked down the metal door – at this point, Kabuto was unconscious and trembling in his sleep, so Naruto just half dragged him through. The throne room (the snake considered himself some kind of V.I.P, of course) was at the end of the first hallway, and upon their entry, the snake Sannin rose from his plain throne and walked slowly toward them.

"You don't write, you don't _summon_," the Sannin said, licking his lips disgustingly. "I was beginning to think you'd forgotten all about me."

Naruto made an obnoxious groan of disgust as he dumped Kabuto on the floor. "Keep your fantasies to yourself – that's between you and your wet dreams, sicko."

Orochimaru chuckled, licking his lips; his forked tongue curled as he spoke. "And yet, here you both are, obviously looking for _me_."

Naruto shivered involuntarily. "Eew, gross! Do you do that on purpose, or were you just _accidentally_ mistaken for a human child when you were _hatched_?"

He tried, he really tried, but the old snake never took these kind of insults personally. It was either that, or he just hid it with sarcasm and his twisted version of humour.

"As much fun as it is playing with you, little fur ball," the Sannin said, and directed his attention back to Sasuke. "I take it you actually _need_ something."

The Uchiha nodded, but didn't elaborate.

Orochimaru pretended to be upset. "Sasuke-kun, if you wanted to speak to me this badly, all you had to do was _ask_ Kabuto where I was."

The limp body of his medic was ignored however, as the snake didn't really care that Sasuke and Naruto had obviously done a number on him.

"Stop trying to cosy up to me snake," Sasuke snarled. "It makes me _itch_." He twitched his fingers for dramatic effect, making a mock stranglehold with his hands. He channelled his Chidori – in a deliberately minute form, it appeared simply as small sparks at his finger-tips.

Orochimaru just grinned at the threat. "And what is it that I can do for you, huh?"

"Firstly, you can tell me everything you know about Konoha's defences," Sasuke said (Naruto grinned, taking a seat in the chair Orochimaru had evacuated to greet his "guests"). "And I mean _all_ of them. I know you've been sitting on something bigger than a ridiculous excuse for a medic as your spy, and I want in."

Orochimaru glanced down at Kabuto as he stirred. "Yes, I do like to be prepared for every eventuality." He chuckled. "And?"

"And," Naruto said, smirking as his interruption drew the snake's reluctant attention. "You've got a small army, just waiting for a _decent_ general to lead them."

Orochimaru looked between Naruto and Sasuke, his eyes flickering down to Kabuto, and seemed to be debating what would happen if he said "no". But he wasn't one to admit he was outnumbered and outflanked.

"Of course," he said, a cheek in his voice. "And your target is Konoha?"

Sasuke nodded. "Yes, and you're going to help us burn it to the ground."

The Sannin cackled at this. He motioned to them. "This way."

As far as secret hideouts went, this one was lacking a certain appeal – it was bare and smelt bad, like rotted fruit. Orochimaru summoned some underling to take care of Kabuto and led his new "partners" to his war room. But Naruto was the only one not _really_ happy about this new alliance – he was going along with it to appease Sasuke. He watched his friend as they planned, plotted, and insulted each other to reach amicable arrangements.

Did Sasuke want to retrieve that leaf whore more than getting his revenge? It was scary, watching the way the Uchiha now spoke with the snake as if the Sannin hadn't admitted he wanted to take over his body, six months ago – as if the disgusting looking old paedophile wasn't already working out a plan in his head on how to use the battle to steal Sasuke's bloodline limit.

Sasuke glanced at Naruto, his face as expressionless as ever, but there was a familiar glint in his eyes. The blonde knew his friend would team up with the devil himself to destroy Konoha, but this was a new low. And it was _very_ dangerous.

Naruto frowned at him, meeting his eyes stubbornly. _'Why do I get the feeling he's not telling me everything?'_

–XXX–

**A/N  
>I love counting things. Like, how many times I've typed in Sakura's name before this chapter (185), or Sasuke's (224)... or Neji's (112). Funny, the things that entertain me when I'm bored. ;P And yeah, Konoha's in the next chapter. Time for some more NejiSaku "fun". ^_^<strong>


	13. A Form of Pleasure

**Author's Notes:  
>Look! I updated! THAT'S what happens when I stop ignoring it. Huh. Who'd have thunk it? :) Anyway, time-frame wise, this chapter was happening at basically the same time as the previous one. This is the morning after chapter eleven, and remember that Sasuke and Naruto took something like two days to reach Orochimaru's hideout, k? :) Continuity is very important to me.<strong>

**Who's more delusional, you, me, or the invisible man sitting in between us? n_n **

–

Chapter Thirteen. A Form of Pleasure.

–

Sakura Haruno woke to the pleasurable sensation of Neji Hyuuga's hands dancing over her already sensitive skin. He was kissing the back of her neck lightly, the warmth from his body spreading over hers; her back against him, she reflexively moaned, earning herself a hard love bite that she knew would be there for days.

"Neji," she purred.

He was painfully hard the moment she said his name; he'd woken with the same deep seeded desire that had brought him to his knees more times during the previous night than he could honestly remember. He kissed the love bite he'd left on Sakura's shoulder as she reached between her thighs to stroke him, telling him without words what she wanted. They were perfectly positioned, he could slide into her if he wanted to, but Neji was taking his time. He teased her, his hand snaking under her knee, and lifting her leg then coiling it back and over his hip. Sakura gave a soft moan as he took advantage of the access the position afforded him, his fingers finding her slick heat.

She was just about ready to growl at him, verbalise some form of threat if he didn't take her then and there, when he started to inch into her. The growl that slipped past her lips was different to the one she'd been entertaining. Neji didn't move immediately, stopping to savour the moment, fully seated inside of her. But again, he didn't give her a chance to berate him, rocking against her as he continued to stroke every inch of her he could reach. No words were uttered – none were needed. The unspoken understanding was being realised, and Neji closed his eyes, just enjoying the ride.

When she finally started to clamp down on him, he was in heaven and heaven had a name; he whispered it over and over, not pausing or slowing in his ministrations. His fingers were coaxing her muscles into wanting spasms; her body shuddered, and he followed soon thereafter when she felt him pulse inside her.

And Sakura cried out, always the more vociferous of them. She pulled away immediately, realising too late that a cramp had developed in her leg; she hadn't felt the pain until now. She groaned and leant backward into Neji's chest, too tired to even open her eyes.

Meanwhile, Neji was coming back to earth, and he was feeling guilty again. Last night, he'd wanted to tell her he knew about Sasuke, but kept using his hormones, that needy look on her face and his desire to keep her close to him as excuses. But what he really _needed_, was to get this off his chest.

"Sakura?"

"Hm."

And there it was again: his hesitance.

"Neji?" He didn't respond, so she rolled over to face him; the naked emotions on his face were all she needed for confirmation and she frowned. "Are you okay?"

Neji sighed, playing with the edge of her hair. "I overheard you and Hinata-chan at the hospital."

He expected her to snap at him; anything other than the blank look on her face. She was freaking him out. But Sakura wasn't sure what to say to that. Was he worried about what had happened, or the implications? She hadn't allowed herself the time to worry as much as she should've. Sasuke was going to come find her, that was evident, judging by the type of person he was, the resources at his fingertips and what little her shishou had told her about him.

"Everything?" She asked softly.

He nodded.

Sakura inhaled deeply. "And?"

He lowered his hand from her hair, placing his fingertips at the pulse point above her sternum. It was a mark of how much she trusted him that she was calm in the face of this Byakugan user. He could easily incapacitate her. "Do you have feelings for him?"

It was such a stupid question, considering what the Uchiha had done to her, but he'd heard the strained concern in her voice when she explained to Hinata what had happened. He _needed_ to know.

"Sasuke…" Sakura drifted off for a moment, and then shook herself. "I don't know what I feel about Sasuke, or what he did to me – I just know that he's not like anybody else and I can't compare him to you. It wouldn't be fair."

That made sense. He closed his eyes, resting against her pillow and started to count his breaths.

"Neji?"

He opened his eyes. "It's okay."

Sakura didn't believe him, but let it go. "Naruto's a whole other story though: the Kyuubi I mean." She grunted. "Same thing I guess."

"Neither Hinata nor myself believe that," Neji said.

"Why?"

"It doesn't make sense," he added. "If Naruto _is_ the Kyuubi, then why hasn't he attacked Konoha yet? What's he waiting for?"

Sakura thought about that, closing her eyes as she tried to remember every instance of her limited contact with Naruto Uzumaki. The first thing that popped into her head was the fight that had killed her temporary squad. She lifted her head to look Neji in the eyes. "I think you're right. He has control of the Kyuubi chakra, that's for sure, but he never _sounded_ like anything other than human."

"Do you think he can be saved?" Neji asked, not wanting to ask the same thing about Sasuke, for multiple reasons.

"I don't know, maybe." She nuzzled his chest again, inhaling his scent and closing her eyes, intoxicated by the aroma that was Neji Hyuuga. "I really wouldn't know."

"Hinata used to have a crush on him."

Sakura's eyes snapped open and she sat up, staring at Neji. "Are you sure?" He nodded and she groaned, falling back on the bed and stretching her body, trying to relieve the tension from her lover's confession. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Hinata keeps things she feels she can't do anything about to herself."

"Yeah, I guess."

Sakura looked down at herself as Neji rolled towards her; she hadn't realised the sheet had slipped off of her body. Neji ran his hand over her stomach, tracing her abdomen as though sketching the outline with his forefinger. A sudden thought struck her: a mental image of her stomach swollen, and the size of a miniature whale. She wondered if she would make a good mother, but the thought left her head the next moment as Neji's hand became a little more adventurous.

And she obliged him, climbing on top of her Hyuuga lover and immediately grinding against him.

In her desire to be with Neji, she'd forgotten to do a birth control jutsu the night before, but she wasn't going to stress over it, since the contraceptive drugs Sasuke had been giving her were still in her system, and would be for another few days, maybe a week. Strange: thanks to Sasuke, right now anyway, she had nothing to worry about.

–XXX–

The days since Sakura's return saw a sense of normality restored, even though the preparations for bolstering Konoha were under a thin layer of purposeful deception: the Hokage had shaken up the assignment of missions and guard duty without giving the Shinobi the full details. Still, rumours were abound and no-one ever took anything for granted anyway. But right now, she was taking advantage of her recent success. It was about time she got down to some serious business.

This lot wasn't a bad catch; Tsunade had confiscated alcohol from a number of ninja in the building last night who were looking to start their evening celebrating several hours too early. Everyone knew she loved her intoxicants, and that she would probably end up drinking them herself, but couldn't complain because she was their Hokage. She wasn't a drunk, at least she didn't think so, and it was insulting; the rumours about how long it would be before she could keep doing this before she ended up in the hospital were out of control.

She had her apprentice back, Sakura was safe, and she wasn't letting her go again anytime soon, at least, not until Sasuke Uchiha could no longer be a danger to her.

Tsunade shivered at that as she stared out her window, watching the people milling about on the streets below. Rape was a far less occurrence in Shinobi circles than most people believed – civilian or not. Their lifestyle was dangerous, but the threat of death, capture, and torture came with the job. Non-consensual sex did _not_. And on the rare occasion it _did_ happen, the results (whether it was the victim or perpetrator) were wide and varied.

The Hokage had not told the elders or anyone outside of those who _needed_ to know that Sakura had been raped (to her count, four people other than Sakura knew; Hinata being the only non-medic).

Tsunade watched for a few more minutes before a familiar chakra signature caught her attention. She hadn't seen him for months. The man was nothing if not delinquent when it came to reporting in.

"Jiraiya," she said, turning away from the window, swivelling in her chair to look upon the familiar figure standing two feet away from her desk. "Long time no see."

He smiled. "And you haven't changed a bit."

"I know."

"You still don't compare to…" He drifted off as she narrowed her eyes at him, and cleared his throat. "Uh, I mean to say, sorry I didn't report in when I got back. Beauty called to me and I was its helpless slave."

"You really need to stop doing that," Tsunade said.

Jiraiya grinned sheepishly. "Yeah, sorry 'bout that. I was looking for the hot springs and got all turned around."

She frowned at him. "You did not." He just shrugged and she let it go. "If you're here about Naruto and Sasuke, you can forget it – they're planning an attack on the leaf and I'm not going to pretend otherwise to make you happy."

"Nah, I don't expect you to."

"Then I'll ask you Jiraiya, _why_ are you here? You're supposed to be spying on the Akatsuki, not sneaking into my office."

"It wasn't sneaking."

"You didn't knock."

Jiraiya opened his mouth to rebuke that statement, and then shut it just as quickly. Technically, she was right. Not that he would admit it. "You really should have more chairs in here," he said instead, ignoring her original question and looking around her office. "Just some home comforts, you know, and some of those little‒"

"_Jiraiya_."

He smirked. "What can I say: I come bearing gifts."

"Sake?"

"Better."

She frowned. "Somehow, I doubt that; Sake, unlike pills or healing chakra, eases my headaches."

"Until the inevitable hangover."

Tsunade groaned, leaning back on her chair. "Jiraiya, _please_."

Jiraiya pulled a satchel out of his bag and opened it. "It's the new bingo book – it would seem our old friend has been removed from the mist version."

"Give me a look at that."

Jiraiya tossed it over, and she scanned the book quickly, not finding Orochimaru's name; her scowl became more and more pronounced as she failed to find it.

"You know what this means?" She asked, handing the book back.

"We now know where Orochimaru's newest ally is from."

Tsunade smiled mirthlessly. It didn't mean the Mizukage or feudal lord of that region were affiliated with Orochimaru, but they couldn't ignore this. For all they knew, Orochimaru had bribed some high level official who had the daimyo's ear. Or all three could be in on it together. The idea, no matter how far-fetched it sounded, was enough to warrant action. She couldn't go up to the Mizukage and ask Mei "are you skivvying for a great big, dirty snake?", but she could do the next best thing.

"Well, we have to assume that that snake would know I'd see this book eventually," Tsunade said. "So it might not mean anything." She sighed. "I'll send a team within the day."

Jiraiya nodded, but didn't leave as he normally would once his business was complete. The less time he spent in Tsunade's presence, the less likely he'd do or say something to incur her wrath after all.

"Yes Jiraiya, was there something else?"

He frowned, interlocking his hands. "Uh, I did actually come here because of Naruto and Sasuke too."

"I've already given you my answer on that front, don't make me knock you through that wall, Jiraiya."

He chuckled nervously. "Oh, I know how to take 'no' for an answer from you." He ignored her look of disbelief. "I was offering my help to you actually."

"Really? I thought you weren't looking to have Naruto hunted and killed."

Jiraiya winced at her casual reference to what she believed to be the imminent death of his godson. "I would rather sacrifice myself, Tsunade. But at the same time, I can't sit around and wait for him to attack Konoha."

Tsunade sat up straighter in her chair. "You have details on this?"

He shook his head. "Nothing my last communique didn't already state: that forbidden scroll is definitely going to be a problem, and my sources tell me that it can only be activated by an Uchiha, as the third suspected years ago."

"Get to the point, Jiraiya."

He looked down at her hands as Tsunade fingered the incident report in front of her; Jiraiya cricked his neck trying to see what it was. All he caught was the first line: it was dated for four years ago.

"Is that what I think it is?"

She nodded, but didn't elaborate.

Jiraiya cleared his throat. "I know what you think of my godson, not that I can blame you, but I'm not here to sell him out any more than I would sit on the sidelines and watch Konoha burn. I hope you can at least understand that."

"I do Jiraiya, I really do. But this conversation is going to end _very_ quickly and painfully for you if you don't get to the point."

The last time he'd seen Naruto and Sasuke, Jiraiya had failed to stop them and they'd slipped past both him and Itachi in the confusion after Naruto broke through the seal he'd put on him to hold the Kyuubi chakra back. His godson had not only learnt to control Kurama's chakra, but also circumvent the more traditional ways of suppressing the beast's power. He couldn't in good conscience, keep that from his Hokage.

"I'll help you find them," Jiraiya said finally. He held up a forefinger as though for inspection, and her eyes fixed on it, as he grew eerily serious. "On one condition."

–XXX–

**A/N I wanna say "I'm going to update soon" but I gotta get my head around where I'm up to with my other "active" fic, **Fallen**, then I'll know where they both stand against each other in terms of updating. Not to mention my brain keeps saying "write more SasuSaku you bitch" over and over the bloody thing, and I don't want to: not yet. *sobs hysterically* Gotta stop thinking, or distract it with candy… either one. I don't consider this fic either SasuSaku or NejiSaku, btw. Not 'till the end. And that's my secret thanx very much. ;P  
>Anyway, next chapter is going to be fun: lotsa running around, kicking arse... 'Till next time, love, and review! ^_^<strong>


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